RESTRICTED  
  
G/TFA/M/9  
 
3 March 2020  
(20-1612) Page: 1/45 
Committee on Trade Facilitation   
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETI NG OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE FACILITATIO N AND  
THE DEDICATED SESSIO N ON ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING  
15-16 OCTOBER 2019  
CHAIR: HE MR MOHAMMA D QURBAN HAQJO (AFGH ANISTAN)  
Contents  
 
1   REGULAR COMMITTE E SESSION  ................................ ................................ .................  2 
A. MATTERS RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATIO N AND ADMINISTRATION OF TH E 
TRADE FACILITATION A GREEMENT  ................................ ................................ .................  2 
NOTIFICATIONS BY MEM BERS  ................................ ................................ ........................  2 
Notifications under Articles 15 and 16 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement  ................................  2 
Notifications under Articles 1:4, 10:4:3, 10:6:2 and 12:2:2 of the Trade Facilitation  
Agreement  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  11 
Notifications under Article 22 of the Trade Facilitation  Agreement  ................................ ...........  12 
STATUS OF RATIFICATI ON AND NOTIFICATION  PROCESS  ................................ ............  14 
Update by the WTO Secretariat  ................................ ................................ ..........................  14 
Previously raised notifications – Statement by the United States  ................................ ............  16 
B. EXPERIENCE SHARIN G/THEMATIC  DISCUSSIONS ................................ .....................  17 
Single Window (Article 10.4 of the TFA)  ................................ ................................ ..............  17 
Presentation by China  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 17 
Presentation by Chinese Taipei  ................................ ................................ ..........................  17 
Authorized Economic Operators (Article 7.7 of the TFA)  ................................ ........................  17 
Presentation by the Republic of Korea ................................ ................................ .................  17 
Publication and availability of information (Article 1 of the TFA)  ................................ .............  18 
Presentation by Jamaica  ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 18 
National Trade Facilitation Committees (Article 23.2 of the TFA)  ................................ ............  18 
Presentation by Norway  ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 18 
Presentation by Montenegro  ................................ ................................ ..............................  18 
Presentation by El Salvador  ................................ ................................ ...............................  18 
Presentation by Paraguay ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 18 
Assessing the Benefits  of the Trade Facilitation Agreement for Agricultural Trade  .....................  18 
Presentation by the United States  ................................ ................................ ......................  18 
Implementation through public -private partnerships  ................................ .............................  20 
Presentation by Brazil  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 20 
C. RECENT AND UPCOMI NG ACTIVITIES  ................................ ................................ ........  20 G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  Update by the WTO Secretariat on activities of the TFAF  ................................ .......................  20 
Update by UNCTAD on a Compendium of Good Practices in Implementing the WTO Trade 
Facilitation Agreement Experiences from developing and least -developed countrie s ..................  22 
Update on activities of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation  ................................ .............  24 
Update on the Trade Facilitation Indicators by the Organisation for Economic Co -operation  
and Development  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  25 
D. DRAFT ANNUAL REPO RT (2019) OF THE TRA DE FACILITATION COMM ITTEE TO  
THE COUNCIL FOR TRAD E IN GOODS  ................................ ................................ ............  26 
E. OTHER BUSINESS  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 26 
2   DEDICATED SE SSION ON ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDIN G ...........................  27 
I.  EXCHANGES ON ANY  IMPLEMENTATION PROB LEMS; REVIEW OF PROG RESS IN  
THE PROVISION OF AS SISTANCE AND SUPPORT  FOR CAPACITY BUILDI NG TO  
SUPPORT THE IMPLEMEN TATION OF THE TFA; A ND, THE SHARING OF E XPERIENCES 
AND INFORMATION ON O NGOING ASSISTANCE AN D SUPPORT FOR CAPACI TY 
BUILDING AND IMPLEME NTATION PROGRAMS, IN CLUDING CHALLENGES A ND 
SUCCESSES  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  27 
Presentation by CARICOM  ................................ ................................ ................................ . 28 
Presentation by Lao People's Democratic Republic  ................................ ................................  30 
Presentation by Zambia: Support from Cooperating Partners and Zambia's Achievements  
in the Implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement  ................................ ....................  32 
II. REVIEW OF DONOR NOTIFICATIONS AS SET  FORTH IN ARTICLE  22 OF THE TFA  ..... 39 
III. REVIEW OF THE O PERATION OF ARTICLE 21:2 (ASSISTANCE AND  SUPPORT  
FOR LDCS)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  44 
 
1  REGULAR COMMITTEE SE SSION  
A. MATTERS RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATIO N AND ADMINISTRATION  OF THE TRADE 
FACILITATION AGREEME NT 
1.1.  The Chair welcomed delegations to the meeting of the Trade Facilitation Committee (TF 
Committee, Committee, or TFC). He recalled that the proposed agenda had been circulated in 
WTO/AIR/TFA/9/Rev.1, which indicated that the regular Committee session would b e followed by a 
dedicated exchange on technical assistance and support for capacity building. The meeting was 
joined by 50 capital -based officials, as well as the Minister of Economy of El Salvador, H.E. Ms. Maria 
Luisa Hayem, and H.E. Mr. Ajmal Ahmady, Mi nister of Industry and Commerce of Afghanistan.  
1.2.  The delegate of Uruguay  requested to include an item under "Other Business".  
1.3.  The agenda was  adopted  with the addition requested by Uruguay.  
NOTIFICATIONS BY MEM BERS  
1.4.  The Chair informed the Committee that a to tal of 87 new notifications had been received since 
the Committee's last meeting on 25 June 2019. All notifications had been issued as documents in 
the G/TFA/N series.  
Notifications under Articles 15 and 16 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement  
1.5.  The Chair drew the Committee's attention to first group of notifications, namely those under 
Article s 15 and 16 of the Agreement. Since the last meeting of the Committee, 56 notifications had 
been received from 48 Members. The notifications were introduced in alphabeti cal order of Members, 
as listed on the airgram.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.6.  The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Antigua and Barbuda 
(G/TFA/N/ATG/1).  
1.7.  The delegate of the United States  thanked Antigua and Barbuda for its notification. She noted 
that Article  10.6.2 had been included in category A and therefore, she urged them to provide the 
relevant information to the Secretariat.  
1.8.  The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Bangladesh 
(G/TFA/N/BGD/2).  
1.9.  The delegate of Bangladesh  said that they had notified their category C provisions on 20 August 
2019. The notification contained 13 items, and Bangladesh had received responses from donors on 
eight of them. Bangladesh expected that donors would come forward and provide aid to impleme nt 
the remaining five provisions.  
1.10.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Barbados 
(G/TFA/N/BRB/1/Add.1).  
1.11.   The delegate of Barbados  said that the cabinet had met on 17 August 2019 to approve the 
notification of the definitive date s and technical assistance for category C provisions. The latest 
notification improved the original one, as it showed that thirteen provisions had been shifted from 
category C to category B. This was a testament to Barbados' commitment to the WTO and its 
principles, particularly special and differential treatment. Barbados called on developed countries 
and developing countries in a position to do so, to provide the appropriate technical assistance and 
capacity building at the levels required for sustainable  development and implementation of the 
various provisions.  
1.12.   Barbados believed it was in every country's interest to implement the TFA and that the 
principles of self -designation of implementation should remain an essential tenet of the agreement. 
Flexibilit ies should be shown to all developing countries but particularly to small vulnerable 
economies and least -developed countries (LDCs), where there were already proven capacity 
constraints.  
1.13.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notifications from Be lize 
(G/TFA/N/BLZ/1/Add.1 and G/TFA/N/BLZ/1/Add.1/Corr.1). There were no comments from 
Members.  
1.14.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Cabo Verde 
(G/TFA/N/CPV/1).  
1.15.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Cabo Verde for the notif ication and asked if Cabo 
Verde had any updates concerning the timeline for ratification of the TFA.  
1.16.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Cameroon 
(G/TFA/N/CMR/1).  
1.17.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Cameroon for the noti fication on category B. She 
expressed concern at the lack of definitive dates and technical assistance and capacity building needs 
for category C. She also recalled that Cameroon had notified Article  10.6.2 in category A, and she 
urged them to make the inf ormation available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.18.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from China 
(G/TFA/N/CHN/1/Add.3). There were no comments from Members.  
1.19.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Congo (G/TFA/N/COG/1).  
1.20.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Congo for the notification. She noted that Article  
10.6.2 had been notified in category A and encouraged Congo to make the relevant in formation 
available to the Secretariat promptly.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.21.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notifications from Costa Rica 
(G/TFA/N/CRI/1/Add.1 and G/TFA/N/CRI/1/Add.1/Corr.1). There were no comments from Members.  
1.22.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Côte d'Ivoire 
(G/TFA/N/CIV/1).  
1.23.   The delegate of Côte d'Ivoire  said that that since 30 July 2019, Côte d'Ivoire had notified 
three measures under category B and 18 measures under category C. This showed that Côte  d'Ivoire 
had clear needs for technical assistance. The delegate thanked USAID and the World Bank for their 
continued support , and he went on to request further support for the implementation of the TFA. 
There were several different projects for the future  that would improve the workings of the 
Agreement in the country.  
1.24.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Cuba 
(G/TFA/N/CUB/1/Add.1 and G/TFA/N/CUB/2).  
1.25.   The delegate of Cuba said that Articles  1.3 (Enquiry Points) and 10.4 (Single Window) had 
initially been notified in category C, but Article  1.3 had been shifted to category B, under the 
provisions of Article  19 of the TFA. Because of the prevailing conditions in Cuba, which their 
Ambassador had explained at length during the recent  Heads of Delegations meeting, Cuba had 
found it difficult to access technical assistance and capacity building being provided by some of the 
Annex D organizations. In 2014, an official request had been made to UNCTAD for the development 
of a project on th e implementation of the strategy for the development of the single window. After 
an effort to acquire the relevant financial resources, the European Union had agreed to finance the 
proposal, for which the delegate expressed their gratitude. since then, the  Ministry of Trade and 
Foreign Investment, with support from UNCTAD, had drafted a timeline to document, clarify and 
simplify the procedures of registration, prior certification and release. Training had also been 
received from UNCTAD experts. In March 201 8, authorization had been received to use the 
e-Registration system, hosted in a national server. The most significant achievement in 2019 had 
been to finalize documentation for the platform as a result of the technical assistance received. 
Currently, the platform documented 125 laws and regulations and 108 procedures from 41 national 
entities.  
1.26.    Cuba wanted to underscore that developed Members made a commitment to provide 
assistance to all developing countries and LDCs but in the current situation, many bil ateral donors 
privileged certain countries and regions based on their own interests. Cuba was not opposed to this , 
but it placed the Annex D organizations in a very difficult position because they received funds from 
certain donor countries but were limite d in their ability to offer their services and knowledge to all 
member -states which required them. This trend, if continued, would mean that developing countries 
that were not favoured with this type of support would face difficulties to implement their ca tegory 
C provisions which would make it necessary to change their definitive dates of implementation.  
1.27.   The Chair  directed Members' attention to the notification from Djibouti ( G/TFA/N/DJI/1).  
1.28.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Djibouti for their not ification.  The United States 
noted that Article  10.6.2 had been included in category A, and therefore they looked forward to 
Djibouti making the information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.29.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notificatio n from Dominica 
(G/TFA/N/DMA/1/Add.1).  
1.30.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Dominica for their notification. She noted that 
Articles  1.4 and 10.6.2 had been included in category A and she encouraged Dominica to make the 
relevant information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.31.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from the Dominican Republic 
(G/TFA/N/DOM/1/Add.1). There were no comments from Members.  
1.32.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Ecuador 
(G/TFA/N/ECU/1/Add.1).  There were no comments from Members.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.33.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Egypt (G/TFA/N/EGY/1).  
1.34.   The delegate of Egypt  recalled that Egypt had ratified the TFA on 24 June 2019, and that the 
concerned notification had been submitted on 18 June 2019. The document included additional 
category A commitments, as well as categories B and C commitments, including definitive date s for 
category B and C provisions. In addition, Egypt had presented information on customs brokers 
(Article  10.6.2) in document G/TFA/N/EGY/2.  
1.35.   The delegate highlighted some of the actions Egypt had undertaken to promote trade 
facilitation. The National Tra de Facilitation Committee had been established by Ministerial Decree 
no. 183/2011, with participation from competent authorities from the public and private sector. The 
Committee had played an important role during the TFA negotiations phase and after MC9 the work 
had focused on TFA implementation issues, including the identification of assistance and capacity -
building needs. There would also be a new set of rules to reduce the number of documents required 
for import and export transit actions. In addition,  efforts were underway to implement a national 
single window to facilitate electronic communication among all control authorities concerned with 
the cross -border trade. Further action was taking place to redraft and update the customs law for 
consistency w ith the TFA and rapid changes in international trade. Finally, Egypt asserted its full 
commitment to the implementation of its obligations under the TFA, including those included in 
category C. Donor countries were appreciated, as well as the WTO and other  international 
organizations for their cooperation and support. Egypt aspired to further cooperation in order to fully 
enable them to meet their obligations.  
1.36.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Eswatini 
(G/TFA/N/SWZ/1/Add.2) . There were no comments from Members.  
1.37.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Fiji ( G/TFA/N/FJI/1/Add.1) . 
There were no comments from Members.  
1.38.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Gabon ( G/TFA/N/GAB/1) . 
There were no comments from Members.  
1.39.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notifications from Ghana ( G/TFA/N/GHA/1 
and G/TFA/N/GHA/1/Add.1).  
1.40.   The delegate of Ghana  said that they had notified their commitments under categories B and 
C, as well as  the corresponding definitive dates. Of those commitments, 23 had been allocated under 
category C, with the expectation that adequate technical assistance and capacity building support 
would be made available in a timely and effective manner to meet the sc heduled commitments. 
However, there had been no engagements with donors thus far and consequently no positive results.  
1.41.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Grenada 
(G/TFA/N/GRD/1/Add.1).  
1.42.   The delegate of Grenada  said that the no tification contained provisions in category C, their 
definitive dates, and technical assistance and capacity building requirements. He thanked the World 
Bank and UNCTAD for their support in the implementation of measures in category C. Grenada hoped 
to con tinue to receive more capacity building and technical assistance to fulfil their obligations under 
the TFA.  
1.43.   The delegate of the United States  appreciated the information shared by Grenada. She noted 
that Article  10.6.2 had been notified within category A she and encouraged them to make the 
relevant information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.44.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Guyana 
(G/TFA/N/GUY/1/Add.2).  
1.45.   The delegate of Guyana  said that in the corresponding notificat ion, 12 items had been stated 
in category C, with definitive implementation dates. However, funding had remained unavailable 
from counterparts. Guyana had been forced to fund many of those projects through government 
funding and loans, together with help f rom UNCTAD and the WCO. Guyana also wanted to thank G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  Korea Customs who had recently come forward with an offer to provide help. Guyana would approach 
other funding agencies for further help in this regard.  
1.46.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Jamaica 
(G/TFA/N/JAM/1/Add.2).  
1.47.   The delegate of Jamaica  said that the notification contained commitments in categories B and 
C. Eight items had been shifted from category C to category B, reflecting Jamaica's commitment to 
implementation o f the TFA. Also, Articles  11.1-11.3 which had previously been notified in category 
B had been transferred to category A. Fifteen measures had been notified in category C, and the 
government was making strides in implementing some of them, together with the  support of 
partners. However, funding gaps remained, and Jamaica was looking to receive additional backing 
in that regard. The delegate thanked UNCTAD for providing guidance on how to complete the 
category C commitments notification, which Jamaica had sub mitted on 21 August. She also thanked 
all other donors that had participated in Jamaica's implementation of the TFA, such as the World 
Bank Group and the ITC.  
1.48.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Jamaica for their presentation and noted their 
ambitious and accelerated implementation plan, particularly the improvements in category 
designations. She noted that Jamaica had included Article  10.6.2 in category A and encouraged them 
to make the information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.49.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notifications from Kazakhstan 
(G/TFA/N/KAZ/2/Add.1 and G/TFA/N/KAZ/2/Add.1/Corr.1). There were no comments from 
Members.  
1.50.   The Chair drew the Committee's atten tion to the notification from the Kyrgyz Republic 
(G/TFA/N/KGZ/2/Add.1).  
1.51.   The delegate of the Kyrgyz Republic  said that the notification G/TFA/N/KGZ/2 contained 
details of Kyrgyz Republic's commitments under categories B and C., Following intensive internal  
work, the notification G/TFA/N/KGZ/2/Add.1, which contained the definitive dates of implementation 
under categories B and C, and the information with regards to transfers of categories B and C, had 
been distributed.  
1.52.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attentio n to the notifications from Lao People's Democratic 
Republic ( G/TFA/N/LAO/1/Add.1 and G/TFA/N/LAO/1/Add.2) . There were no comments from 
Members.  
1.53.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention  to the notification from Liberia ( G/TFA/N/LBR/1).  
1.54.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Liberia for the notification. she and noted that 
Articles  1.4 and 10.6.2 had been included in category A and she encouraged Liberia to make the 
information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.55.   The delegate of Liberia  thanked the Uni ted States for its comments and said that they would 
make all the detailed information available. He also thanked the WCO, which had been working 
closely with the Liberian Revenue Authority. He also thanked the World Bank for its support.  
1.56.   The Chair  drew th e Committee's attention to the notification from Malawi (G/TFA/N/MWI/1) 
and Malaysia  (G/TFA/N/MYS/1/Add.1).  
1.57.   The delegate of the United States  said that this was the second time they were raising this 
issue with Malaysia. While the US appreciated the notification of definitive dates, Malaysia had placed 
Articles  1.4, 10.4.3, 10.6.2 and 12.2.2 in category A and the US encouraged Malaysia to make the 
relevant information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.58.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Moldova 
(G/TFA/N/MDA/1/Add.2). There was no comment from Members.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.59.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention  to the notification  from Montenegro 
(G/TFA/N/MNE/1/Add.1).  
1.60.   The delegate of Montenegro  said that they would provide an update on implementation during 
their presentation later in the meeting.  
1.61.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Montenegro for their upcoming presentation , as 
well as their notification. She commended them for their ambition on accelerating the 
implementation of eight provisions which were now in category A.  
1.62.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention  to the notification from Namibia (G/TFA/N/NAM/1).  
1.63.   The deleg ate of the United States  thanked Namibia for the notification of its definitive dates. 
She noted that Articles  1.4 and 12.2.2 had been included in category A and encouraged Namibia to 
make the relevant information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.64.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention  to the notification from Nigeria 
(G/TFA/N/NGA/1/Add.1).  
1.65.   The delegate of Nigeria  said that the notification had been presented after a series of intensive 
stakeholder consultations. The notification demonstrated the imp ortance Nigeria attached to the 
notification obligation. There had been a dedicated workshop on 13 and 14 February 2019 which 
culminated in the notification. This reflected Nigeria's high ambition and was also consistent with the 
ongoing trade facilitation  reform agenda in the country. The delegate thanked development partners 
and donors, particularly the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, the Commonwealth, the World 
Bank Group and the several stakeholders that had partnered with Nigeria in their TFA e ndeavours. 
Nigeria continued to count on their support and looked forward to the strengthening of the capacity 
of the National Trade Facilitation Committee.  
1.66.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Pakistan 
(G/TFA/N/PAK/1/Add.2). T here were no comments from Members.  
1.67.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Papua New Guinea 
(G/TFA/N/PNG/1/Add.1).  
1.68.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Papua New Guinea for the notification, as well as 
their ambition to acce lerate implementation of Article  10.2 as a category A.  
1.69.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Paraguay 
(G/TFA/N/PRY/1/Add.1).  
1.70.   The delegate of Paraguay  stated that the latest notification complemented the notification 
presented in January 2018 and it included definitive dates for 11 provisions in category C, in 
compliance with Paraguay's commitments under the TFA. Paraguay understood the value of 
transpa rency and prompt communication through notifications. In this regard, they had made efforts 
for internal coordination through the National Trade Facilitation Committee to submit the definitive 
dates. There were pending notifications under Articles  10.4.3, 10.6.2 and 12.2.2, which Paraguay 
intended to present soon Paraguay was fully committed to the implementation of the TFA, which 
was particularly important to Paraguay as a land -locked developing country and which helped them 
continue with internal initiati ves. She hoped that donor Members would take into consideration the 
information presented and that it would raise interest in the provision of technical assistance and 
capacity building.  
1.71.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Sai nt Lucia 
(G/TFA/N/LCA/1/Add.1).  
1.72.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Saint Lucia for the notification and noted that 
Article  12.2.2 had been included in category A. She encouraged Saint Lucia to make the relevant 
information available to the Secretari at promptly.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.73.   The delegate of Saint Lucia  thanked the United States and assured them that the 
corresponding notification would be made in due course. In light of the latest notification, Saint Lucia 
confirmed that it had satisfied its notification requireme nts under Articles  15 and 16 of the TFA. The 
delegate thanked UNCTAD for their assistance, particularly with regards to the needs' assessments 
and continuous support for implementation. The delegate also expressed gratitude to the World 
Bank and the Govern ment of the United Kingdom. However, Saint Lucia had concern about the slow 
pace in which the requisite support had been forthcoming. The delegate reminded the donor 
community that their support was vital for the implementation of Saint Lucia's category C 
commitments.  
1.74.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention  to the notification from Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines ( G/TFA/N/VCT/1/Add.1).  
1.75.   The delegate of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  said that their category C commitments 
and definitive implementation dat es were contained in the notification which was dated 7 August 
2019. The government had contributed to the initiative to pre -empting some of the category C 
provisions. However, they had not been able to fully fund those projects. Therefore, Saint Vincent 
and the Grenadines looked forward to receiving technical and financial assistance to assist in the 
effective implementation of these provisions and thanked the contributors in advance. The delegate 
also thanked UNCTAD for their support in the training and e mpowerment program based on the 
needs -assessment, and for their support in the implementation of their own program. She also 
thanked the World Bank Group and the Government of the United Kingdom. However, she called on 
the donor community for their full su pport in the implementation of category C provisions.  
1.76.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Samoa 
(G/TFA/N/WSM/1/Add.1).  
1.77.   The delegate of Samoa  said that their notification contained the shifting of categories with 
extended definitive implementation dates, and a notification of definitive implementation dates of 
category C designations. Based on Articles  17 and 19 of the TFA, Samoa requested that  Article  8 
(Border Agency Cooperation) be shifted from category B to C with the extended definitive date. 
Further to an internal assessment and consultation with the implementing agencies, it had been 
recognized that Article  8 covered areas that would requ ire capacity building and development of new 
processes and procedures to enhance the cooperation of border agencies. It had also been 
recognised that external support would be required to fully implement this provision. In the same 
document, Samoa had also  notified its definitive dates for its category C commitments, in response 
to Article  16 of the Agreement.  
1.78.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Samoa for their intervention and the notification. 
She noted, for the second time, that Articles  10.6.2 and 12.2.2. had been included in category A, 
and she encouraged Samoa to make the information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.79.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from the Seychelles 
(G/TFA/N/SYC/1/Add.2).  
1.80.   The delega te of the United States  thanked the Seychelles for the notification. She noted, for 
the second time, that Articles  10.6.2 and 12.2.2 had been included in category A and she encouraged 
the Seychelles to make the information promptly available to the Secreta riat. 
1.81.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Sri Lanka 
(G/TFA/N/LKA/1/Add.1).  
1.82.   The representative of Sri Lanka  stated that the notification contained definitive dates for 
category C commitments, in compliance with the deadline set  forth for this purpose. The challenges 
faced by the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) had been significant in preparing the 
notification and deciding on the definitive dates of the category C commitments . When addressing 
the resources, both fin ancial and human, required for fulfilling all the categories' commitments, it 
was evident that Sri Lanka lacked the resources required for implementation of these commitments, 
particularly category C commitments. Special consideration had to be made of rec ent manmade 
disasters, which brought far reaching implications on many economic activities including the tourism 
sector and financial markets. Those setbacks as well as the government's commitments to G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  compensate the victims and the properties affected by t he series of blasts led to a diversion of 
financial resources for meeting those most needy requirements at the cost of implementing the 
projects targeted at category C commitments. There were also other challenges, such as bringing 
requisite amendments to the legal and structural frameworks of the institutions that were involved 
in the implementation of category C commitments. As a result, the NTFC had been compelled to 
decide on longer timeframes for category C commitments. As Sri Lanka attached significan t 
importance to successfully discharging its obligations under the TFA, it needed assistance from 
donors and from developed countries to commit material in -kind and financial assistance for fulfilling 
the commitments. Sri Lanka was quite concerned that it had not been able to secure the required 
funds from donors and developed countries. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka acknowledged the support 
received so far in implementing 23 provisions under Category C, in particular, support from the EU 
under the Trade Related Assistance Program, and from the World Bank Group and the Australian 
Government. Sri Lanka would contact additional donors throughout the meeting, and hopefully would 
secure the required assistance.  
1.83.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notificat ion from Suriname  
(G/TFA/N/SUR/1).  
1.84.   The delegate of Suriname  said that they had notified their category C commitments, as well 
as the definitive dates and assistance and support for capacity building. Suriname had sent the 
proposal for ratification of the T FA to the council of ministers for its approval. It was already on the 
council's agenda, and with their approval, it could be sent for ratification by parliament.  
1.85.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Tajikistan (G/TFA/N/TJK/1 
and G/TFA/N/TJK/1/Corr.1).  
1.86.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Tajikistan for its notification. Tajikistan had 
included Articles  10.6.2 as a category A and the United States encouraged Tajikistan to make the 
relevant information available to the Secre tariat promptly.  
1.87.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention  to the notification from Tonga 
(G/TFA/N/TON/1/Add.2).  
1.88.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Tonga for its notification and noted that Article  
10.6.2 had been included in category A. The United S tates encouraged Tonga to make the relevant 
information available to the Secretariat promptly. The United States was also interested to receive 
updates on Tonga's timeframe for ratification of the TFA.  
1.89.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the notification from Tunisia ( G/TFA/N/TUN/1).  
1.90.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Tunisia for their notification. She noted that Articles  
1.4, 10.6.2 and 12.2.2 had been notified as a category A and she encouraged Tunisia to make the 
relevant information available to the Secretariat promptly. The United States would also be 
interested to receive any updates on the timeframes for ratification of the TFA.  
1.91.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notification fr om Ukraine 
(G/TFA/N/UKR/1/Add.2).  
1.92.   The delegate of Ukraine  said that the notification included definitive dates for the eleven 
provisions included in category C, which should be implemented by December 2021, with one 
exception .  The category C provisions in cluded,  inter alia , post -clearance audit, single window, 
transit, test procedure. The implementation process of some of those provisions had already started. 
The delegate noted that some provisions previously in category C had been shifted to category B, 
and they could be implemented without assistance and capacity building support. The shift had been 
possible as a result of fruitful engagement from several donors in recent years. Ukraine also 
expressed its appreciation for the assistance provided by the Un ited States and the European Union.  
1.93.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention  to the notifications from the United Arab Emirates 
(G/TFA/N/ARE/1 and G/TFA/N/ARE/1/Corr.1).  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.94.   The delegate of the United States  thanked the UAE for their notification. She noted th at 
Articles  1.4, 10.6.2 and 12.2.2 had been included in category A and she encouraged them to make 
the relevant information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.95.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention  to the notification from Zimbabwe 
(G/TFA/N/ZWE/1).  
1.96.   The delegate of the United States  thanked the UAE for their notification. She noted that 
Articles  10.6.2 and 12.2.2 had been included in category A and she encouraged Zimbabwe to make 
the relevant information available to the Secretariat promptly.  
1.97.   The deleg ate of Zimbabwe  thanked the United States for their intervention and indicated they 
would be supplying the required information.  
1.98.   The delegate of the European Union  said that the European Union was pleased with the 
acceleration of notifications that had taken place since the last meeting of the Committee in June, 
both by developing countries and LDCs. They specially noted that LDCs had succeeded in 
determining their B and C categories, where there had been some lagging even in recent months. 
The EU also welcomed the constant updating of the Trade Facilitation Database, which allowed them 
to continuously monitor implementation and be updated almost daily. The delegate stressed that 
the Committee should not only comment on the notifications received between meetings but should 
also address the notifications that were missing in order to have an accurate view of implementation. 
In accordance with their calculations, twelv e developing countries had failed to notify definitive dates 
for category B and C commitments. The EU called on developing countries and all countries that had 
missed the deadline to clarify if they would not be using the prerogatives contained in Section II of 
the TFA.  
1.99.   Regarding least -developed countries, the EU appreciated all efforts made to submit 
notifications, and in particular those Members that had succeeded in categorizing their commitments. 
There was concern that several LDCs did not have the capa city to categorize their commitments, 
which in turn meant that they would also have difficulty to reach out to donors and to detail their 
assistance needs. The EU urged Members that still lagged behind to voice their difficulties to find 
ways to address th em. With regard to transparency notifications, the EU supported the interventions 
made by the US in respect of those provisions in category A for which Members had not yet provided 
the required information. According to the EU calculations, they amounted t o between 60 and 80 
Members.  
1.100.   The delegate of China  noted that 180 Members had notified category A measures, 96 had 
notified category B measures and 86 had notified category C measures but there were still seven 
Members that had not made any notification. C hina called on the relevant Members to finish the 
categorization and submit notifications according to Articles  15 and 16 as soon as possible. China 
suggested that Members inform the Committee of the issues that prevented them from making their 
notificatio ns in order for the committee to find solutions collectively.  
1.101.   The delegate of Japan  welcomed all the notification made by Members, since they would be 
key to implementation and encouraged remaining Members to follow suit as soon as possible. Some 
developin g countries and LDC Members had not provided the category notification set forth in Article  
14. If the situation continued, Members' obligations under the TFA would become less apparent. The 
purpose of the notification under Article  16 of Section II of the  TFA was to allow developing country 
and LDC Members to take additional time to prepare for the implementation of their obligations 
under Section I, as well as to secure the opportunities to obtain necessary technical assistance. 
When exercising these righ ts under Section II, Members should bear this purpose in mind and comply 
with the provisions stipulated in Section II. Japan regretted that some Members had failed to provide 
certain notifications within the relevant deadline and would like to know the rea sons there of.  
1.102.   The delegate of Nigeria  found it useful to engage in a detailed discussion on notifications. 
Earlier and shorter implementation dates for categories B and C were certainly beneficial. In addition, 
the notification exercise could also be enha nced by partnerships among stakeholders, capital and 
donors. It made sense for such groups to discuss and there was value in that commitment, which 
reflected their own experience. Also, their experience had led them to not limit or rely heavily on 
the dono r or partner to do what the government thought they could do on their own. Shortly, they G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  would be requesting the approval for a certain percentage of reductions for customs to fund some 
of the projects where donor assistance was required. To an extent, thi s responded to their needs 
assessment and discovered that there are many things being done by Nigeria, that they could 
continue to implement and not necessarily have to wait for material resources from donors. Based 
on the previous interventions from Membe rs, Nigeria sought clarification from the Secretariat in 
terms of the status of TFA implementation when the Agreement has not yet been ratified. 
Specifically, they wondered if the TFA would be binding on those Members who have not yet ratified 
the agreemen t.  
1.103.   The delegate of Chad indicated they had not ratified the Agreement and that their NTFC was 
not yet operational. However, different projects for notification had been sent out to the different 
services that were involved in the Committee meeting. Donor assistance would be welcome in order 
to establish the NTFC and to provide it with personnel.  
Notifications under Articles  1:4, 10:4:3, 10:6:2 and 12:2:2 of the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement  
1.104.   The Chair  drew the Committee's attention to the next group of notifications. They were often 
referred to as "transparency notifications" and consisted of notifications mandated by Articles  1:4, 
10:4:3, 10:6:2 and 12:2:2 of the TFA. He recalled that all notification s had transparency objectives, 
either in a broader context —such as by calling for information on publication sources —or in relation 
to particular areas, such as the operation of a Member's single window, the use of customs brokers 
and customs cooperation. Since the last meeting, a total of seventeen notifications had been received 
from sixteen Members. Four of those notifications had been circulated after the airgram had been 
issued.  
1.105.   The Chair drew Members' attention to the notifications from Bangladesh ( G/TFA/N/BGD/3), 
Brazil ( G/TFA/N/BRA/2/Add.2), and the Dominican Republic ( G/TFA/N/DOM/3).  
1.106.   The delegate of the United States  thanked the Dominican Republic for their notification and 
enquired  if it would be possible to provide additional URLs for the website in paragraph 2.1 of the 
TFA. Particularly, they were interested in the description of the practical steps needed for importing, 
exporting or transit.  
1.107.   The Chair  proceeded to the notifications from Ecuador (G/TFA/N/ECU/2), Egypt 
(G/TFA/N/EGY/2), Grenada (G/ TFA/N/GRD/2), and Indonesia (G/TFA/N/IDN/2).  
1.108.   The delegate of Indonesia  acknowledged that transparency was important  for traders as well 
as Members  to gain the maximum benefits from TFA implementation. In this regard, Indonesia would 
continue its on -going efforts to improve transparency. Indonesia had notified the details of the 
Indonesia National Trade Repository (INTR), as well as the Indonesia Nat ional Single Window portal. 
The latter contained information on export/import requirements and procedures by HS code. 
Indonesia also provided 24 -hour call centers in both Indonesian and English.  
1.109.   The Chair drew Members' attention to the notifications from I srael ( G/TFA/N/ISR/1), Malawi 
(G/TFA/N/MWI/2), and the Maldives (G/TFA/N/MDV/1/Add.1 and G/TFA/N/MDV/1).  
1.110.   The delegate of the United States  thanked the Maldives for their notification and 
congratulated them on their recent ratification of the TFA.  
1.111.   The Chair drew Members' attention to the notification from Mongolia ( G/TFA/N/MNG/2).  
1.112.   The delegate of Mongolia  indicated that they were preparing the pending notifications under 
Articles  10.4.3, 10.6.2 and 12.2.2.  
1.113.   The Chair  drew Members' attention  to the notificati on from Morocco ( G/TFA/N/MAR/2).  
1.114.   The delegate  of Morocco  said that they had ratified the TFA on 14 May 2019. In addition, a 
technical meeting had taken place in recent days which brought together all the departments and 
stakeholders involved in the impleme ntation of the TFA, to determine the final category B and C G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  dates and the needs of technical assistance. This information would be notified to the committee as 
soon as possible.  
1.115.   The Chair  drew Members' attention  to the notification from Nepal ( G/TFA/N/NPL/ 2). 
1.116.   The delegate of Nepal  said that they had notified the information on customs brokers related 
to Article  10.6.2 on 11 October 2019. Categories B and C had been notified in February 2018. Nepal 
was currently carrying out a series of trade facilitation in itiatives, which included  the establishment 
of the NTFC comprised of representatives from the public and private sectors. They were also in the 
process of sending a new customs law to the parliament, which included measures set out by the 
World Customs Org anization. This bill had already been approved by the cabinet of ministers. The 
process to establish a single window had started, and Nepal had already launched the trade 
information portal. Communication had been established with donors concerning the imp lementation 
of category C commitments, which included the World Bank Group and others.  
1.117.   The Chair  drew Members' attention  to the notification from Peru (G/TFA/N/PER/3/Rev.1).  
1.118.   The delegate of Peru said that the notification detailed information on the website for the 
agencies which monitored the required materials in Article  1 of the TFA. The notification had been 
verified and validated by their NTFC. During the last two years, efforts had been mad e by the 
government to improve the regulation on external trade in line with the TFA. At all regulatory levels, 
Peru was in a process of reformulating the single window to broaden its scope of application. Peru 
reaffirmed its commitment to the implementati on of the Agreement and noted that to achieve this 
objective they required cooperation from donors for the compliance and improvement of measures.  
1.119.   The Chair proceeded to the notifications from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 
(G/TFA/N/VCT/3) and Viet Nam ( G/TFA/N/VNM/2). In absence of further comments, the Chair 
opened the floor for any overall observations on this group of transparency notifications.  
1.120.   The delegate of the European Union  said that the European Union was pleased with the 
growing number of Mem bers that had complied with the notification obligation on transparency 
measures. This was crucial for the successful implementation of the TFA because the transparency 
measures contributed to helping small and medium enterprises to conduct their procedure s within 
customs, accelerate their business and reduce the costs of trading. She noted that many countries 
that had committed to all the main Articles  on transparency ( 1.4, 10.4.3, 10.6.2 and 12.2.2) had 
not notified at all, including significant economies . The United States had underlined many of those 
gaps in the preceding agenda items and identified the following Members in that situation:  Malaysia, 
Albania, Brunei, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. She would appreciate it if Members' would indicate 
any mist akes in that list. Many developing countries and LDCs had committed to notifying their 
practices regarding Article  10.6.2 (customs brokers) at entry into force but had failed to do so. 
According to the EU, there were 39 Members in this situation. Regarding  the notification of contacts 
for customs cooperation under Article  12.2.2, about 20 Members had not submitted their notification. 
This information was important as it enabled concrete customs cooperation on specific suspicious 
transactions.  
1.121.   The delegate o f China  said that they had submitted the notification under Articles  1.4 and 
10.6.2. The notification on Article  10.4.3 had been submitted seven months ahead of schedule. 
Regarding Article  12.2.2, it was a category B measure and the notification would be m ade after 
implementation. China called on all Members to submit their outstanding notifications.  
1.122.   The delegate of Nigeria  suggested to have a gentle reminder for countries that had 
outstanding notifications . At times, it could be a situation of oversight an d it was important to subtly 
draw Members' attention to outstanding notifications and encourage them to present such 
notifications in a timely manner. If capacity building was required, Members should find a way to 
assist in that regard.  
Notifications unde r Article  22 of the Trade Facilitation  Agreement  
1.123.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the notifications under Article  22 of the TFA. 
There were two different  kinds of notifications covered by this Article . The first consisted of input by 
donor Members on the assistance they provided (paragraphs 1 and 2). The second notification G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  required developing and least -developed Members to notify their contact points of the offices 
responsible for coordinating and pri oritizing the assistance they wished to receive. Since the last 
meeting of the Committee, two delegations Norway (G/TFA/N/NOR/3) and Chinese Taipei 
(G/TFA/N/TPKM/2), had notified.  
1.124.   The delegate of Chinese Taipei  explained that the notification contained thr ee items. The 
first and second items concerned a TF workshop that had been held in Chinese Taipei, and which 
took place every year. The purpose of the workshop was mainly to provide capacity building for 
developing and least -developed countries. The third item referred to financial support to assist the 
Belize Government to improve its fiber connection to serve as a foundation for governments and 
businesses to better  adopt ITC. It would contribute to the Belize Government's TF implementation. 
They provided similar assistance on a bilateral level, in particular with Palau in the Pacific Islands. 
Chinese Taipei had continuously improved their customs procedures to conduct customs reform in 
order to promote trade facilitation. The implemented measures included single window, authorized 
economic operators, advanced rulings applied to HS codes, rules of origin and customs valuation, 
post clearance audit as well as customs clearance procedures. The customs authority had gained 
momentum and looked forward to providi ng their support for the implementation of the TFA.  
1.125.   The delegate of Norway  said that as a significant donor but a small country, they channeled 
their efforts through  multilateral funds such as the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF, the 
Facility) and the World Bank Group's Trade Facilitation Program. While not mentioned in the 
notification, the delegate reported that Norway had been working with the WCO in the same manner 
they conducted their Aid for Trade efforts with multilateral funds.  
1.126.   The deleg ate of Nigeria  thanked Chinese Taipei and Norway for the information and the 
update. Developing countries and LDCs benefitted from such transparency and took advantage of 
the facilities that had been reported. He encouraged others who were not yet on board  to be 
forthcoming, as Nigeria attached importance to this particular aspect of transparency obligations.  
1.127.   The delegate of the United States  thanked Chinese Taipei and Norway for their notifications 
and the corresponding introduction. She echoed the previou s intervention from Nigeria and called 
on Members that were providing technical assistance and capacity building to fulfil their obligations 
under Article  22 of the TFA. In particular, the US called on China to submit their Article  22 notification 
outlinin g the support that it provides. China was a significant donor in the area of trade facilitation 
and provided technical assistance and capacity building projects to a number of recipient countries 
in the region, including a donation to the TFAF. Fulfilling the transparency obligations of the TFA 
applied to all WTO Members, as it provided a clear picture of all the work that was taking place 
globally. Therefore, they would appreciate it if China could notify the information to the Secretariat 
promptly. The US  also encouraged any up to date notifications under Article  22 of the TFA, for any 
donations made to funds, specifically including the TFAF considering its close relationship to the 
Committee and the Secretariat. Management and transparency in those notifi cations was particularly 
important, as a joint obligation by Members.  
1.128.   The delegate of the European Union  supported the statements from previous speakers and 
recalled that transparency was needed in technical assistance projects. It helped to improve 
coordi nation among donors which was necessary in order to avoid duplication and to ensure that 
existing gaps and needs were well identified and met.  
1.129.   The delegate of China  thanked the United States for their comment regarding the notification 
under Article  22. Ch ina had donated USD 1 million to the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility and 
had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the WTO Secretariat which had been reported by 
WTO official press. China's donation would assist TFAF to fund the capacity building  support needed 
by developing countries to implement the Agreement. TFAF would help countries in assessing their 
specific needs and identifying partners to fund capacity building activities. According to TFAF's 
operational guidelines, the Facility was oper ated, monitored and managed by the WTO Secretariat, 
in which China was never involved. It was China's understanding that their donation to TFAF had no 
transparency flaws. The rules of the TFA and its operational guidelines were silent on notification 
obligations of TFAF donors. Nevertheless, China attached great importance to the transparency 
obligations of WTO Members and was willing to demonstrate their strong commitments to the 
multilateral trading system and to help other developing and least -developed countries benefit 
through implementation of the TFA. China would finish their notification under Article  22. G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.130.   The Chair referred to the notifications which had been received under Article  22.3. Twelve 
notifications had been presented by ten Members: Dominic an Republic ( G/TFA/N/DOM/2) , Ecuador 
(G/TFA/N/ECU/3) , Fiji ( G/TFA/N/FJI/2) , Grenada ( G/TFA/N/GRD/3) , Malawi ( G/TFA/N/MWI/3) , 
Maldives ( G/TFA/N/MDV/2) , Mauritius ( G/TFA/N/MUS/3) , Mongolia ( G/TFA/N/MNG/3) , Paraguay 
(G/TFA/N/PRY/2 and G/TFA/N/PRY/2/Rev.1) and Sri Lanka ( G/TFA/N/LKA/2 and 
G/TFA/N/LKA/2/Corr.1) .  
1.131.   The delegate of Jamaica  took the floor on behalf of the ACP Group . She thanked the WTO 
Secretariat  Trade Facilitation team for assisting many of their members to submit their notifications 
before the 22 August 2019 deadline. The ACP Group registered its appreciation to the TFAF team for 
organizing a special workshop for ACP non -LDC's in record time pri or to the summer break. The 
team had also made themselves available for one -on-one consultations which took place throughout 
August and up to the time of the deadline. The workshop had been extremely helpful, especially 
where delegations were small and cap ital-based resources were meagre in order to meet the 
deadlines.  
1.132.   The delegate of the Dominican Republic  joined in recognizing the work of the Secretariat. As 
a developing  country, they had requested trade facilitation related assistance to help in the proc ess 
of notifications, because they did not know how to fulfil many of the elements in the notifications. 
At that point, the Secretariat had carried out a technical assistance mission to the Dominican 
Republic where they provided hands -on support and help. It had been very meaningful and had 
allowed the Dominican Republic to submit all the required notifications within the pre -established 
deadlines. The delegate encouraged any other developing Members who might require this 
assistance to turn to the Secretar iat and the TFAF.  
1.133.   The Chair informed Members that draft notifications had been received as follows: (i) ABC 
notifications  from Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Zambia; (ii) 
transparency notifications from Botswana, Colombia, and Parag uay; and (iii) an Article  22 
notification from China.  
1.134.   The delegate of the United States  indicated that they would review the incoming notifications 
and would come back to them at the next meeting.  
1.135.   The Committee took note  of the notifications addressed und er items A, B and C and of the 
information contained therein.  
STATUS OF RATIFICATI ON AND NOTIFICATION  PROCESS  
Update by the WTO Secretariat  
1.136.   At the request of Members, the WTO Secretariat  provided an update on the status of 
ratifications and notifications. It covered ratifications; implementation and transparency 
notifications; and information on technical assistance and capacity building that had been provided 
in those notifications.  
1.137.   In terms of ratifications, 146 instruments of acceptance had been received, with the latest 
two coming from Tajikistan and the Maldives, and seventeen ratifications to go. An overview of the 
area of implementation indicated that 118 notifications had been rece ived for category A 
commitments, 96 for category B and 86 in category C. Since the last meeting, 56 notifications from 
48 Members had been received by the Secretariat, as listed in the airgram, plus some additional 
notifications submitted since the circula tion of the agenda.  
1.138.   The next upcoming deadline was 22 February 2020 milestone, when LDCs would have to 
submit their category B definitive dates for implementation. The next milestone would take place a 
year later, on 22 February 2021, when LDCs would provi de their indicative dates for the 
implementation of category C commitments. Following, LDCs would present their definitive dates for 
implementation on 22 February 2022.  
1.139.   Currently, 60 developing Members had designated category C commitments and 55 of them 
(92%) had presented their definitive dates. Overall, 50% of commitments had been assigned under 
category A, 16% in B and 24% in C, with a 10% of commitments which have not yet been designated G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  under any category. The numbers had not changed substantially si nce the last meeting, but they 
provided a clearer picture as more notifications with definitive dates were being submitted.  
1.140.   Regarding requests for technical assistance and capacity building, 93% of developing 
country Members  had submitted requests for all commitments designated under category C, 4% 
had presented some of their requests, while there was an outstanding 3% that had not submitted 
any requests. In the case of LDCs, 31% had presented complete details, 4% had notified some of 
their requests and 65%  remained outstanding. It was important to note that as more notifications 
were received on this topic, the percentage of unidentified requests for technical assistance and 
capacity building (TACB) would reduce. The greatest number of requests for TACB had  been received 
in the areas of human resources and training, assistance with legislative and regulatory frameworks 
and assistance with information and communication. No change had been recorded in terms of the 
measures with the highest and lowest rates of implementation.  
1.141.   The data on transparency notifications reflected that 82 submissions had been received 
under Article  1.2, 67 under Article  10.4.3, 85 for Article  10.6.2 and 76 concerning Article  12.2.2. 
The information also indicated that 16 notifications had been received under Article  22.1, 9 
concerning Article  22.2 and 23 related to Article  22.3. 
1.142.   The delegate of Nigeria  said that he would welcome information on an individual country 
basis Nigeria would like to asses to what extent had Aid for Trade suppo rted implementation of the 
TFA.  
1.143.   The Chair  indicated that such individual concerns relating to country experience could 
certainly be addressed bilaterally with the Secretariat.  
1.144.   The delegate of Hong Kong, China  thanked the Secretariat for the presentation, as it was 
crucial for the Committee to keep track of the status of notifications and ratifications. Besides 
submission of notifications, implementation of the TFA on the ground was also important. One 
interesting and special feature of the Agreement was th e direct benefits it could bring in terms of 
reduction in trade costs, and growth of international trade. As still stated in the WTO website, 
"estimates show[ed] that the full implementation of the TFA could reduce trade costs by an average 
of 14.3% and bo ost global trade by up to 1 trillion dollars per year, with the biggest gains in the 
poorest countries." This latest estimation was a study by WTO economists in 2015 and the delegate 
questioned if Members had achieved that goal. She assessed that a conside rable gap remained and 
questioned if those figures were still valid as a long -term estimate.  
1.145.   The Agreement had entered into force more than two and a half years ago. With a 
substantive amount of notifications on hand, including more implementation dates of  category B and 
C provisions, Members could be in a better position to see how the TFA was affecting the trade and 
economy. She suggested that the Secretariat start exploring with relevant divisions and economists, 
who might then engage with the private se ctor, and collaborate with other international bodies to 
conduct a study with updated information on the impact of TFA implementation on the trade and 
economy. The study could be a reality check to reaffirm Members were going in the right direction, 
and to  provide an alert on areas which required more attention. The study itself was not a work of 
the TF Committee but could be one reference for the Committee to consider as follow -ups such as 
thematic discussions.  
1.146.   The delegate of Chad indicated they were unsu re of their ability to comply with the 22 
February 2020 deadline to provide the definitive dates for category B commitments, unless technical 
assistance was quickly forthcoming and allowed them to move forward.  
1.147.   H.E. the Minister of Industry and Commerce of  Afghanistan  thanked Members for having 
elected Afghanistan as Chair of the Committee. He appreciated the vote of confidence, and he was 
pleased that his colleagues were doing their best to ensure that the Committee continued its 
successful journey in supp ort of the effective implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. 
Afghanistan had become a Member of the WTO on 29 July 2016. The negotiations to join the 
multilateral trading system had been highly demanding but Afghanistan had taken them as an 
opportunity. The process had resulted in the positive transformation of Afghanistan's economic, 
trade, legal and institutional landscape. Hence, like the accession process, the post accession era 
was equally important for the government to reap the benefits o f their Membership of the G/TFA/M/9  
 
- 16 - 
 
  organization. As a result, exports were increasing, and Afghanistan was being integrated into the 
world economy. Amongst other steps they had taken to achieve this goal was the establishment of 
a permanent mission to the WTO in Ge neva. The Minister was pleased to note that the mission was 
positively contributing to the work of the WTO at the hands of its Ambassador.  
1.148.   Afghanistan  recognized the importance of creating a predictable stable cost -efficient 
business environment by adoptin g legislation and strengthening institutional capacity. Hence, they 
had ratified the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. In Kabul they had also established an NTFC for 
coordination and follow -up of the WTO accession commitments. This committee had been meeti ng 
every few months and he was pleased to report that they were meeting several benchmarks every 
few months. These reforms constituted a larger reform agenda which had led to Afghanistan being 
the largest reformer according to the World Bank Group Doing Bu siness Indicators Report last year. 
Coming from an LDC and a land -locked country, they knew all too well how important it was for 
traders and governments and consumers to have secure non -discriminatory access to markets and 
not to be held back by hampering  red tape. It was therefore a pleasure that his colleagues had such 
a responsibility in Geneva and looked forward to working with everyone towards their important 
goals over the months to come.  
1.149.   H.E. the  Minister of Economy of El Salvador  was pleased to be back in Geneva, as she had 
been a delegate to this committee years before and reported she would be sharing on the progress 
made during the past four months of the new government under the appropriate agenda item.  
Previously raised notif ications – Statement by the United States  
1.150.   The delegate of the United States  appreciated the great work that had been done in the 
Committee since June and congratulated the members of the Committee, the Chair, and the 
Secretariat for the success in implemen ting a major milestone of the Special and Differential 
Treatment provisions of the TFA, such as the 22 August deadline. The notifications due in that 
occasion were important because self -designation to implement the obligations in Section I of the 
TFA was hard fought during the negotiations. According to the numbers provided by the WTO 
Secretariat in their update and the US' own analysis, the vast majority of the developing Members 
met and exceeded the deadlines embedded in the TFA. This had been possible t hrough the hard 
work of the Membership. There was now a clear picture of when developing Members, in addition to 
developed Members, would implement the obligations under Section I, and there were more details 
on the needs for technical assistance required by Members to meet their obligations.  
1.151.   In June 2019, just four months before the meeting, at least 51 of 89 of developing Members 
had not submitted the notifications due in August. That meant that over 57% of developing  Members 
were in danger of losing the opportunities for the special and differential treatment flexibilities if the 
deadlines had been missed. The US had worked with many other Members to conduct an all -out 
effort to raise awareness among Members, as did the Secretariat and others, about the l ooming 
August deadline. The figures shared during the meeting were extraordinary —over 87% of developing 
Members had met the deadline and put in their definitive dates for the implementation of 
commitments in categories B and C. As self -declared timelines h ad been one of the experiments in 
trade facilitation, this was an enormous achievement for the Organization. Significant progress had 
been achieved over the previous four -month period to comply with the deadline, with only a handful 
of countries that remai ned outstanding. The US called upon them to come to the Committee and 
talk about why the dates had been missed, as other Members had before. However, it was time to 
cheer the success of all those Members that had come forward and made the dates. The Commit tee 
had certainly demonstrated leadership, persistence and determination to successfully pioneer a new 
kind of agreement dedicated to streamlining border procedures.  
1.152.   There was additional work to be done to implement the Agreement. The US had raised the 
issue of the overdue transparency notifications at previous committee meetings and at the current 
one. Some Members had self -identified Articles  1.4, 10.4.3, 10.6.2 and 12.2.2 as category A 
commitments, but were yet to provide that relevant information to the  Secretariat. In the US' 
estimation, about 40% of the total Membership was overdue in submitting at least one of the 
transparency notifications. However, in the matter of the last 24 hours, that statistic had already 
changed, as many notifications were pre sently coming in. The US thanked delegations that had met 
with them over the last few weeks and that had communicated through email, as their commitment 
to the TFA was encouraging. They also thanked the Secretariat for their efforts to provide 
transparency  and update the status of the notifications in the database.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.153.   The focus on transparency notifications was due to their importance for traders, as had also 
been noted by Hong Kong, China. Traders all started with finding information; from the single 
entrepre neur to the three -person business, to the 50,000 -person company, businesses  relied on 
information to enter new markets and to start trading. Information like documents; fees and charges 
and penalties and duties were critical and opened the path for new tra de. The US placed a great 
importance on the timely implementation of those TFA provisions especially related to the 
transparency of information. The US was willing to assist any Member that was facing challenges in 
identifying the information needed to com ply with the category A obligation that they had chosen. 
The delegate concluded by once again highlighting the over 90% success rate in the last few months.  
1.154.   The delegate of Nigeria  recalled that trade facilitation was a unique topic and that the process 
of the agreement had been win -win. Now was not yet a time for celebration but of commendations. 
The delegate applauded the Secretariat and those Members that had made the achievement of the 
deadline possible. The WTO was known for missed deadlines; however , this had not been the case 
with trade facilitation which was a success story. Consequently, other areas could take the example 
of trade facilitation and the Committee in terms of moving forward. Nigeria was pleased to be a part 
of this story and would take  a message of success back to capital.  
1.155.   The delegate of Norway  supported the US statement. Although sometimes they disagreed, 
the delegate recognized the work that the United States had put in over the last months with regard 
to notifications. It was inspir ing to see the US work enthusiastically for the WTO. None of the success 
could have been achieved without the US' support and Norway wished to express their gratitude for 
their efforts.  
1.156.   The Committee took note  of the statements made.  
B. EXPERIENCE SHARIN G/THEMATIC  DISCUSSIONS  
1.157.   This segment of the  meeting  was conducted in informal  mode , with the understanding  that 
information  Members were willing to share would be made available on a dedicated website 
(https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tradfa_e/comm_tradfa_e.htm#oct19Meet ) with related 
links also being included in the minutes of the  meeting.  
1.158.   Members  addressed the following  issues:  
Single Window ( Article  10.4 of the TFA)  
Presentation by China  
1.159.   Information  on the presentation can be found under the following  link: 
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/thematicdiscussiondocument/6._China_ -
_Single_Window_in_China_ -_201910.pptx  
Presentation by Chinese Taipei  
1.160.   Information  on the presentation can be found under the following  link: 
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/thematicdiscussiondocument/Chinese_Taipei_ -
_CPT_Single_Window_WCO_CTF_1009final_1.pd f 
Authorized Economic Operators ( Article  7.7 of the TFA)  
Presentation by the Republic of Korea  
1.161.   Information  on the presentation can be found under the following  link: 
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/thematicdiscussiondocument/8._Republic_of_Korea_ -
_Korean_AEO_ProgramWTO_TFA_Final.pptx  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  Publication and availability of information ( Article  1 of the TFA)  
Presentation by Jamaica  
1.162.   Information  on the presentation can be found under the following  link: 
https://prezi.com/view/0zUO8o7tUKa2kIIbY4xU/  
National Trade Facilitation Committees ( Article  23.2 of the TFA)  
Presen tation by Norway  
1.163.   Information  on the presentation can be found under the following  link: 
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/themat icdiscussiondocument/3._Norway_ -
_Norways_National_TF_Committee.pptx  
Presentation by Montenegro  
1.164.   Information  on the presentation can be found under the following  link: 
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/thematicdiscussiondocument/2._Montenegro_ -
_NTFC_TF_Committee_meeting.pptx  
Presentation by El Salvador  
1.165.   Information  on the presentation can be found under the following  link: 
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/thematicdi scussiondocument/1._Presentacion_Avances_Facil
itacion_de_Comercio_OMC_rev_Ministra.pptx  
Presentation by Paraguay  
1.166.   Information  on the presentation can be found under the following link:  
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/thematicdiscussiondocument/4._ppt_CFC_Octubre_2019_ -
_CNFC_Paraguay_9 -10-19.pptx  
Assessing the Benefits of the Trade Facilitation Agreement for Agricultural Trade  
Presentation by the United States  
1.167.   The delegate of the United States  presented on a recent USAID report about the 
interrelationship between the Trade Facilitation Agreement and agricult ural trade. There was a 
perception related to the TFA that its relevance to agricultural trade was minimal. In developing  this 
report, USAID, in collaboration with its colleagues at the United States Department of Agriculture's 
Foreign Agricultural Service , had sought to dispel this sentiment.  
1.168.   The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) had reported that global trade 
in food had tripled over the last decade and was expected to continue to grow. By 2050, the world's 
population was estimated t o grow by more than 30 percent, with nearly all of the growth expected 
to be in developing countries. To feed this population and their increased demand for more and 
varied foods, and to assure food security, food production would need to increase by 70 pe rcent. 
This increasing demand emphasized the need for safe and efficient trade of agricultural goods.  
1.169.   The WTO's 2015 World Trade Report had suggested that full implementation of the TFA 
would reduce the cost of trading agricultural goods by 10.4 percent. F or perishable goods in 
particular, the cost reduction had been estimated to be even higher. Perishable goods had an ad 
valorem  tariff equivalent of 43 percent in trade costs mostly derived from transportation costs and 
temperature controls maintained throu ghout the export and import process . By implementing the G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  TFA, the cost of trading perishables could be reduced by more than 18 percent given the sensitivity 
of perishable goods to timely release to avoid spoilage.  
1.170.   Studies highlighted in the World Trade Rep ort had also showed that trade facilitation 
measures potentially had greater impact in developing countries that had a comparative advantage 
in agriculture and perishable goods. Implementation of the TFA could lead to an annual increase of 
3.5 percent grow th in exports for developing countries. For least -developed countries , the volume 
of traditional export products to existing markets could increase between 13 and 36 percent. These 
growth figures were of particular importance to small traders who depended on regional food trade, 
most of whom were women. The potential growth was also important for cross -border trade of food 
staples and food assistance.  
1.171.   The objective of the USAID's report was to provide government officials and other 
stakeholders with an over view of how the WTO's TFA could support agricultural trade. The report 
was organized into eight sections covering topics pertinent to the timely movement, release, and 
clearance of agricultural goods at borders, including goods in transit, by addressing co mmon 
procedural challenges and ways in which the TFA can expedite agricultural trade. The sections of 
this report provided a summarized analysis of trade facilitation measures, including examples, with 
some sections delving into recommendations, resources,  and best practices.  
1.172.   The report categorized TFA Articles ' relevance to agricultural trade into three main groups: 
(i) those with a direct impact on the expedited clearance of agricultural trade and had measures that 
required implementation by the agricultu re, health, or standard setting authorities (such as the 
measures on laboratory testing and perishable goods); (ii) those that had a general benefit to 
agricultural trade with regard to transparency and border management practices, but did not have 
expedit ing measures or did not have new implications for the agriculture, health, or standard setting 
authorities (such as Customs cooperation for verification purposes); and finally, those with minor 
impact on agricultural trade either because they did not conta in any expediting measures or because 
they were not pertinent to agricultural trade.  
1.173.   Of the 36 provisions in the TFA, 30 fell under one of these three categories. TFA Articles  that 
had similar commitments in the SPS and TBT Agreements (for example, publica tion of information, 
provisions on fees and charges, and appeal and review procedures) had been categorized as 
providing a general benefit given that the SPS and TBT Agreements provided similar and more 
specific obligations affecting agricultural trade. Se ction 2 of the report provided an analysis of SPS 
and TBT -related procedures that prevented or delayed agricultural exports. It included 
recommendations to facilitate agricultural trade by addressing procedural deficiencies through the 
implementation of th e TFA.  
1.174.   Section 3 included a summary of developing countries' TFA commitments by category (A, B, 
and C) with a list of how developing countries had notified commitments under each agriculture -
related Article . It included an analysis of the average cost and time for implementing the most 
notified Articles  under category C. Section 4 provided a list of international and regional activities 
that focused on streamlining export certification and other SPS -related certifications for specific 
products. Section 5 di scussed the TFA measures for handling perishable goods to keep the cold chain 
intact and avoid spoilage. It included a case study on how trade facilitation helped provide 
refrigerated warehousing in Tangier, Morocco. Section 6 was a summary of best practic es in risk -
based import inspections to prioritize shipments that need a physical inspection. Section 7 included 
a review of inspection and testing practices, and the rationale behind establishing risk -based import 
controls for SPS agencies. Section 8 inclu ded a discussion on the importance of the transit regime 
and corridors for trade and food aid. Section 9 included a summary of the challenges and 
recommendations for implementing e -certification and working towards a single -window platform.  
1.175.   The US hoped th at Members would find this report of value and would catalyse additional 
support for implementation of the TFA given its broad and significant beneficial impact to agricultural 
trade.  
1.176.   The report could be found at the following link:  
https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00TNBS.pdf  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  Implementation through public -private partnerships  
Presentation by Brazil  
1.177.   Information on the presentation can be found under the following  link: 
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/thematicdiscussiondocument/5._Brazil_ -
_191015_Global_Alliance_Inmetro.pptx  
1.178.   The Committee took n ote of the statements made.  
C. RECENT AND UPCOMI NG ACTIVITIES  
Update by the WTO Secretariat on activities of the TFAF  
1.179.   The representative of the WTO Secretariat  explained that the Facility planned its activities 
based on requirements of the Agreement and the issues and priorities identified in the Committee, 
in Members' communications, and the needs expressed by developing and LDC Members. In the 
period since the last meeting, the focus had been on assisting developing Members to meet the 22 
August 2019 notification deadline. F urther information on the TFAF events was available at the TFAF 
website: https://www.tfafacility.org/ . 
1.180.   The Facility had held a workshop for ACP group Members on the notificati on requirements 
on 22 July 2019. The TFAF had also prepared information sheets for each participating Member 
showing their current status and highlighting the notifications that were due. This had been followed 
by three half -day drop -in sessions in July an d August that had allowed interested Members to have 
a one -on-one meeting to ask questions about their notifications. The sessions had reached 23 
Members, including seven LDCs. Of the 16 developing country Members that had participated in 
these "deadline p reparation" sessions, all had submitted their definitive dates for category C 
provisions.  
1.181.   The TFAF also provided assistance to many Members by phone, email and drop -in visits. 
These  informal consultations had led to at least two additional Members submitti ng four notifications 
and at least one Member submitting their instrument of ratification. The Facility was confident of 
more positive outcomes from these interactions, but their informal nature made them harder to 
track.  
1.182.   Two national workshops had been co nducted during the period being reported, one in the 
Dominican Republic and one in Barbados. Within two weeks of the workshop in Santo Domingo, the 
Dominican Republic submitted their category B and C definitive dates, transparency  notifications for 
all fou r Articles  and their donor contact point. The national workshop in Barbados had led to the 
notification of category C definitive dates and TACB needs by the August deadline. This workshop 
had been conducted by a consultant who specialized in committees and  he had also assisted the 
National Committee to draft terms of reference and develop an action plan.  
1.183.   Within 10 weeks of the TFAF workshop for the LDC group retreat held in Switzerland, three 
participating LDC Members submitted five notifications. Since the  last committee meeting in June, 
the Facility had supported 21 developing and LDC Members to submit 33 notifications and 1 
instrument of ratification. Therefore, it was possible identify a direct positive contribution from TFAF 
on well over a third of the 86 notifications received from developing and LDC Members in the crucial 
reporting period.  
1.184.   The Facility had also reached out to partner agencies to assist Members to meet the August 
deadline. The Annex D organizations and regional programs such as TradeMar k East Africa and 
CARICOM had reported back on efforts that they had taken to help reach this goal. All WTO TF 
workshops had a component on the notifications and would continue as such for as long as 
necessary.  
1.185.   The current Committee meeting had also benefi ted from the participation of 58 capital -based  
officials and representatives from CARICOM, EAC, ECOWAS, SADC, and UEMOA, funded by the TFAF. 
As always, to benefit from the opportunity, and to ensure value for money, they were in Geneva all G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  week and would a ttend additional sessions organised by the Facility as well as donors and partner 
organizations. Although none of these sessions were restricted, it had not been possible to advertise 
them widely because of severe meeting room constraints. T he day before, the Facility had organized 
a session on notifications, and on TFA legislation and policy considerations which had included a 
presentation on implementing the TFA and keeping SMEs in mind.  
1.186.   Now that most Members had notified their TACB needs, the TFAF was en hancing efforts to 
assist Members to find implementation support. At the suggestion of a donor Member, the Facility 
had conducted a working group exercise allowing participants to share their experiences of 
identifying donors and preparing them to particip ate in the next day's dedicated session. The working 
groups had been facilitated by donors, partners and WTO colleagues. The day had concluded with 
presentations from several donors and regional organizations on their implementation support 
programs. This had been followed by a reception that provided an informal setting for direct bilateral 
discussions between developing countries and donors. For Members  to reap full benefits from these 
sessions,  participants had been asked to identify in advance the provisions for which they already 
had donors and the provisions for which they needed support. The TFAF had also prepared a 
workbook with details on TF assistance programs based on information provide d by donors.  
1.187.   For any Member still unable to identify assistance following these discussions, there were 
one-on-one lunchtime sessions scheduled this week to assist with the completion of expressions of 
interest for TFAF Grants. The TFAF had already assiste d with 5 expressions of interest. These would 
be circulated to donors early next week. Last week, an expression of interest had been circulated to 
the donor list and had received an immediate response from the World Bank Group offering 
implementation suppo rt. Hopefully such success would be replicated with any requests we receive 
this week. A number of partners had benefitted from the TFAF's offer to organize sessions the current 
week to benefit from the capital -based experts' attendance.  
1.188.   During the upcomin g days, UNOHRLLS and UNCTAD would conduct an Experts Group 
Meeting on Improving transit cooperation and trade facilitation for further integration of landlocked 
LDCs in global trade. The Facility had organized parallel sessions for Pacific and Caribbean is land 
countries to explore common issues. The UK would hold a session on monitoring and evaluation of 
the TFA and the EU would host a session for LDC Members on the rules of origin registered exporter 
system -or REX for LDCs. On the day of the committee meet ing, WTO officials from the development 
division held a session on TFA implementation and disaster response. A program outlining all of 
these sessions was available on the Facility website, which had not been widely advertised due to 
the limited capacity o f available rooms.  
1.189.   One of the roles of the Facility was to enhance coordination and cooperation of partner 
organizations and to discourage duplication. For this reason, they frequently participated in events 
organized with or by partners. In July there has  been a co -organized event at the WTO for 45 
participants from 16 countries, a peer -to-peer event. The World Bank Group had funded the 
participants and had made their stay long enough to attend the Aid -for-Trade week. Also, in 
conjunction with the World Ba nk Group, the TFAF had taken advantage of the Aid -for-Trade week to 
reach a broader audience by organizing the Facilitation Feud game show. This had been based on a 
popular TV game show and had involved conducting a survey in advance. Two teams of TF exper ts 
from partner organizations, national administrations, private sector and Geneva delegates had tried 
to guess the top answers to the TF survey questions to win points. DHL had made a special delivery 
of the prizes and explained how TF provisions helped t hem provide speedy delivery. Members of the 
audience also had gotten a chance to play along. As always, information had been distributed during 
Aid-for-Trade and at last week's Public Forum. A big draw to the TFAF table had been the World 
Bank Group's virt ual reality tours of the border between Guatemala and Honduras and the Port of 
Freetown in Sierra Leone.  
1.190.   Last month, the Facility had funded the participation of 6 Pacific Island officials in a 2 -day 
Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum, organized by UNES CAP in New Delhi, India. Also last month, 
the WTO had presented at an African Alliance Single Window Conference in Cameroon. During the 
current month, the WTO would present at an Asia Europe Meeting on Single Window Cooperation in 
China. The biggest upcomi ng event was a border agency cooperation workshop for Latin American 
countries, organized with the assistance of ALADI. The program would be the same as the event 
conducted earlier this year in the Caribbean with CARICOM and would again be conducted with t he 
cooperation of many international and regional partner organizations.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.191.   In closing , the representative stated the Facility was developing their work plan for 2020. If 
there were any suggestions, they would be appreciated as soon as possible in order to me et the end 
of November deadline. As always, close attention was being paid to the priorities and issues relating 
to technical assistance identified in the Committee and especially in the dedicated session and would 
reflect those discussions in future work.  
1.192.   The delegate of Barbados  thanked the Secretariat for their presentation and more 
emphatically for the capacity building exercise that had taken place in Barbados. The outcome of 
this workshop had been the presentation of their category C notification, whi ch had been introduced 
in the corresponding item of the agenda. They would look forward to more updates and reports from 
the Secretariat concerning their trade facilitation activities, in particular technical assistance and 
capacity building.  
Update by UN CTAD on a Compendium of Good Practices in Implementing the WTO Trade 
Facilitation Agreement Experiences from developing and least -developed countries  
1.193.   The Chair  said that at the request of Rwanda, UNCTAD would update the Committee on its 
Compendium of Good Practices in relation to implementing the TFA.  
1.194.   Together with the Commissioner of Customs from the Rwanda Revenue Authorities, UNCTAD  
introduced the Compendium of Good Practices in implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation 
Agreement. The focus was on a number  of case studies and experiences from developing and least -
developed countries. While there were several positive experiences and case -studies from the 
developed world, there were many others taking place in developing and least -developed countries 
that wo uld be valuable for TFA implementation. The report was also in line with the sustainable 
development goals, paragraph 17.9, on enhancing South -South Cooperation.  
1.195.   The goal had been to share experiences between countries for each of the TFA measures 
and probably additional examples would be added over time. This was also an encouragement for 
countries to approach UNCTAD if they considered they had a good case to share. UNCTAD would be 
very glad to add it to the compendium. The report would be published both o nline and in hard copy, 
based on a standard structure. The document began with an overview of implementation, and 
counterclockwise , there would be an insight into the detailed services that were provided for a 
specific measure. The report also touched upon  subjects like funding, required legislative changes, 
capacity building efforts and technical assistance that had been provided, obstacles in 
implementation, lessons learned, success factors and benefits achieved by the country. Finally, it 
also addressed costs, fees, and sustainability for each case. This methodology would be followed for 
each case study.  
1.196.   The first volume of the compendium would include seven case studies: Kenya Trade Portals 
with response to Article  1.1 and 1.2 of the Agreement; Kazakhsta n on Pre -arrival processing; Sri 
Lanka on electronic payment; Colombia on risk management; Azerbaijan on border agency 
cooperation; Rwanda single window; and Paraguay on the establishment of the National Trade 
Facilitation Committee. This information would  be available on the UNCTAD website in the coming 
weeks, along with additional technical notes for each of the TFA obligations. The report had also 
been developed with partner organizations such as ITC and UNECE, as well as the Global Alliance 
for Trade Fa cilitation.  
1.197.   The cases were first presented with a page that introduced the corresponding measures or 
obligations, a summarized infographic to later delve into the details. Contact points were also 
provided, in case anyone wished to reach out to the partici pating countries. The compendium would 
likely not be printed out for environmental concerns, but it would be available on the website.  
1.198.   The Commissioner of Rwanda  thanked UNCTAD for selecting their case study on single 
window for the compendium. The single window had been one of the key reforms in trade facilitation 
and had made a substantial difference in how Rwanda conducted business. Implementation of the 
single window had started in 2012. TMEA had been an initial donor with UNCTAD as the system 
provider.  Currently, there were 34 agencies connected to the system, which included an association 
of clearing agencies that had almost 200 members. That added to 234 members connected and 
using the system. The system worked 24 hours, and it was used even by revenu e authorities in the G/TFA/M/9  
 
- 23 - 
 
  East African community, given their single customs territory. As a result, they could reduce the 
processing time of goods destined to Rwanda.  
1.199.   Those 234 agencies comprised all regulatory agencies, the Rwanda Revenue Authority; the 
Customs Department; the Bureau Standards; all ministries; all agriculture boards directly involved 
in the clearance of goods. It also included revenue authorities of other partner states, as had been 
previously mentioned. The system was also being used by business entities, banks, shipping lines, 
insurance, port authorities; basically, every agency involved in the clearance of goods.  
1.200.   The system offered the processing of custom declarations, which was the primary function 
of the electronic single window. It also facilitated the issuance of licenses and permits, as well as 
other certificates. This was unlike in the past were a clearing agent had to move across different 
offices to get a license –for example, an import license, or to get a certificate of origin . With the 
Rwanda electronic single window, this was possible through the system. Electronic payment was 
also provided for, with all banks connected to the system. Risk management had also been 
integrated, which was among the regulatory agencies, to harmon ize risk management for the 
clearance of goods. Essentially, the whole clearance process was done through with the single 
window.  
1.201.   There were significant benefits. In terms of time, it had been possible to reduce the export 
clearance time from 67 hours to 3 4 hours –this had a big impact on the Doing Business Index of the 
World Bank. There had also been a reduction in the time for clearance of imports by 86%. It used 
to take 11 days, including the time for collecting all the documents for making a declaration . The 
use of the electronic single window to get applications and certificates had significantly reduced the 
time for processing the documents. According to an independent study that had been conducted in 
2017, the business community had saved USD 6 millio n on transport, and it had saved USD 1 million 
on transaction costs because there was no need for chasing documents, going to different agencies, 
and this had also had a big impact on the transaction costs. Given that everyone could get the 
documents at th e same time, some of the processes were done simultaneously, unlike before where 
perhaps customs had to wait for bureau standards to process a document. With the single window, 
because a trader or clearing agent could submit all of the documents within an entry point, and the 
information was shared with all key players, it was possible to tart processing the declaration without 
waiting for other agencies.  
1.202.   Some of the costs and fees collected were able to ensure the sustainability of the system. 
The total co sts of the system had been reasonable at USD 4 million. When looking at the advantages, 
the investment outweighed the costs of the investment. Rwanda charged USD 3.5 for the use of the 
system. This was not a charge introduced with the single window, but it  was a pre -existing fee for 
computer processing. It was decided to keep the fee to sustain the system. In the case of a simplified 
declaration, especially for SMEs, the cost was USD 0.5 for one declaration.  
1.203.   The delegate of Nigeria  thanked UNCTAD and Rwanda  for the presentation and the 
experience sharing. He enquired from UNCTAD about the eligibility criteria for a country to be able 
to be part of these success stories. He also questioned, in the case of the trade information portal, 
why Nigeria had started in the same page as Kenya but had unfortunately fallen behind, and why 
Nigeria was no longer a priority.  
1.204.   The delegate of the Dominican Republic  thanked the presenters  and posed the following 
questions: (i) how did Rwanda plan to sustain the system over ti me; (ii) who was the owner of the 
source that had been used to design the system; (iii) would they make any changes to it if they 
could and how much would that cost; (iv) if Rwanda could have their own program, for example, 
and if there would be any mainte nance costs over time; (v) who was the owner of the licenses and 
who had paid for them.  
1.205.   The representative of UNCTAD  clarified that any country was eligible to take part in the 
compendium anyone who considered they had a good case should approach UNCTAD. I t was 
important that the cases would be of interest to the wider community and that they were functioning 
in an appropriate way. In the case of the trade portal of Nigeria, UNCTAD had started the project 
early on with Kenya and had developed it into furthe r detail, even into a regional trade portal.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.206.   The Commissioner from Rwanda  explained that the government was responsible for the 
sustainability of the single window system, starting with the fees collected through declarations, but 
the system was also a part of the budget. The owner of the license was UNCTAD, but they shared 
the source, including with local experts. Any time there was a problem with the system, there was 
no need to bring in an expert from overseas, but rather there were local experts who could provide 
assistance.  
1.207.   The presentation  could be found at the following l ink: 
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/thematicdiscussiondocument/UNCTAD_20191015_Rwanda_
UNCTAD_prese ntation_compendium_good_practices.pptx  
Update on activities of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation  
1.208.   The representative from the Global Alliance  recalled the presentations and statements that 
had been made earlier in the meeting with respect to partne rships with the Global Alliance. The 
secretariat of the Alliance was composed of three organizations – ICC, WEF and CIPE, and was 
supported by six donors - United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Denmark. 
The initiative had been launc hed at the end of 2015, with a mission to help developing and least -
developed countries to implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement, and they did so by bringing the 
public and private sectors together as equal partners.  
1.209.   Their work with the private sector  was their distinguishing characteristic, as they brought 
them to the table as a constructive partner. Trade facilitation reforms were a shared responsibility, 
and the Alliance facilitated the coming together of the private sector government. Currently, th ere 
were nine projects in place in nine countries spread across the world. They would soon be closing 
their first project, which had taken place in Colombia with INVIMA. While they were excited to share 
the results, they were still working on the numbers. What they showed so far was a demonstrable 
reduction in the time and cost of trading. In addition to working in Brazil and Colombia, there were 
projects in place in Morocco, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and Africa —Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia. 
They were also cur rently scoping in Tunisia, India, Nigeria and Costa Rica. They might potentially 
have the first regional project for AEOs. They were also looking at the South -Pacific countries of 
Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Senegal.  
1.210.   During the 18 -month period from January 2018 through 30 June 2019, they had engaged 
over 400 businesses , including multinationals, SMEs and associations. They had worked with local 
business in countries where projects were being developed, while multinationals brought in thei r 
resources and knowledge to contribute to the project. One example was DHL developing an 
eLearning module for internal use by Zambia, at no cost. MAERSK had also contributed with a 
methodology to calculate direct and indirect costs of trade. Such methodol ogy would be published 
shortly.  
1.211.   The Alliance kept a figure of "in -kind" contributions because their promise was that for every 
dollar from the donors, the private sector would contribute with resources, knowledge and expertise. 
In the future, they were loo king at ways to deepen their engagement with the private sector and 
bring more of them to the table. One of their successes was hackathons, which were not commonly 
associated with trade facilitation, but they were new ways of finding solutions. More about this would 
be made public in 2020.  
1.212.   The Alliance was also looking at deepening their work with SMEs and gender sensitizing their 
projects. Also, they were exploring the data in these areas to measure their impact.  
1.213.   The presentation  can be found a t the follo wing link:  
https://www.tfadatabase.org/uploads/thematicdiscussiondocument/Global_Alliance_ -
_19.10.15_WTO_TF_Commi ttee_-_presentation.pptx  
1.214.   The delegate of Nigeria  acknowledged that the Alliance was conducting scoping missions in 
Nigeria, where he had participated in a meeting concerning such discussions. It had been expressed 
at that meeting that there was a need to fast track the pace of activities, in particular for project 
preparation. It had also emphasized that there was a need to have a time frame for the project and G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  its development. For this reason, they were encouraging and appealing to have a project plan for 
next year, where implementation would be key. Th e delegate also appreciated the engagement of 
the private sector in this regard.  
Update on the Trade Facilitation Indicators by the Organisation for Economic Co -operation 
and Development  
1.215.   The representative of the OECD  indicated they had collected informati on on trade facilitation 
measures  and reforms across the WTO Membership every two years, and they had recently collected 
the data for 2019.  At the last Committee meeting, they had sent out the data for each country to 
the relevant delegations in Geneva, i nviting them to check that there were no mistakes and gaps, 
and suggesting that delegations contact the OECD back with corrections or additions by the end of 
the summer. Earlier in the meeting, some delegations noted that they had not been able to do so. 
Therefore, she proposed an additional amount of time for any further corrections to be received by 
10 November, so that Members would be able to take it into account as the OECD pulled together 
their data.  
1.216.   The OECD had collected the data, along with the cor rections and replies that had been 
received . While not currently in a position to provide details, if the Committee was interested, the 
OECD could provide further information during the next meeting. Preliminarily, they had seen that 
progress made in the 2 017-2019 period had been slower than in the 2015 -2017 period. The 
assumption was that perhaps Members had been focusing on notifications. Another highlight from 
the data collected thus far was that the kind of progress that had taken place could be broken down 
into three areas. There had been little progress in Articles  1-6, but it was reminded that this was an 
area were there had been significant advances in the past. On the contrary, more activity had been 
recorded in Articles  7-10. It was noted that the most important challenge in terms of trade facilitation 
reforms in 2017 had been Article  8 (Border Agency Cooperation). That had remained equal for this 
period, and while progress had been recorded, it had not been as fast or as significant as with Article s 
7 and 10. The representative concluded by making herself available for further questions on the 
dataset, the progress or fact checking.  
1.217.   The delegate of the European Union  stated that while not directly related, they had taken 
part in the work of the OECD  through funding. She called on the various entities and international 
organizations that carried out studies on the implementation of the TFA. Hong Kong, China had 
previously proposed a study of the current status of implementation of the Agreement . There  was a 
large majority of countries for which the final date of implementation of category B had reached, 
and it would be interesting to see the latest status report. The EU had received questionnaires from 
the regional Europe commission of the United Natio ns. The delegate was not aware if the UN had 
sent questionnaires to all their regional entities on the implementation of the Agreement, but the 
EU encouraged entities that prepared questionnaires and were involved in the global study on the 
implementation of the Agreement to engage in coordination efforts. There should also be a database 
so that countries would not have to repeatedly fill out the questionnaires. This was very demanding 
work and it gave the strong impression of lack of coordination, even tho ugh that remained as an 
ultimate ideal. In so far as possible, there should be coordination and ensure synergy between the 
various entities involved in the studies on implementation.  
1.218.   The representative of Nigeria  thanked the OECD and clarified that Nigeria  had not been able 
to validate the process for 2012 and not 2019, for reasons that had been bilaterally discussed with 
the OECD. Most of the indicators used by the OECD related strongly to customs, and they were the 
authority that should have been asked to  make the validation, this was the issue they had faced at 
that time. this was a very useful tool, particularly in benchmarking and improving border procedures.  
1.219.   The delegate agreed with the significant challenge identified with the OECD in the 
implementati on of Article  8 (Border Agency Cooperation).   They would be interested in learning how 
to overcome this specific challenge. He believed it was not difficult, but only a matter of cooperation, 
and how to ensure it was achieved in a manner to attain this go al. If there were no best practices 
that the OECD could share, then the exercise would be useless. The delegate stated that, as they 
were not part of the OECD, they were not a part of this assessment process and wondered about 
the feedback in Africa and ot her developing countries. The conclusions reached seemed to create 
the impression that almost every country was doing well, but that was not necessarily the case.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.220.   The representative of the OECD  clarified that she would be able to provide more details on 
the study, if the Committee was interested, as their participation was determined by Members. The 
OECD would be presenting that information to their working party on trade in December and by 
then, that information would be available. With respect to the coop eration with border agencies, 
there was nothing more beneficial than what was taking place in the Committee, where countries 
exchanged their experiences, shared their best practices and the challenges faced.  
1.221.   The delegate  of the United States  thanked the OE CD for their work and appreciated the 
update on the trade facilitation indicators.  
1.222.   The Committee  took note of the statements made.  
D. DRAFT ANNUAL REPO RT (2019) OF THE TRA DE FACILITATION COMM ITTEE TO THE 
COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN  GOODS  
1.223.   According to the Procedures for an annual overview of WTO Activities and for reporting under 
the WTO (WT/L/105), which had been adopted by the General Council on 15 November 1995, all 
bodies constituted under Agreements in Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement wer e required to submit 
an annual factual report to the Council for Trade in Goods, which was then to take note of these 
reports. In line with this requirement, a draft report of the Trade Facilitation Committee had been 
circulated in document G/TFA/W/17.  
1.224.   The Chair informed there was a correction to be made in paragraph 5 of the Draft Report. 
In the second line from the bottom, the word "developing" should be inserted before "Members".  
1.225.   The delegate of Hong Kong, China  indicated that in paragraph 10 concerning the rules of 
procedure, the language seemed to indicate that work had not been concluded and that the rules of 
procedure had not been completely approved. Assuming the rules of procedure would be approved 
at the upcoming CTG meeting in November, he suggest ed to include a footnote stating that the CTG 
had approved them in 2019.  
1.226.   The Chair  enquired of Members if would be ready to adopt the report with the suggested 
amendments.  
1.227.   It was so agreed . 
E. OTHER BUSINESS  
1.228.   The Chair  informed the Committee that Uruguay would make its proposed intervention under 
Other Business during the Dedicated Session on Assistance and Capacity Building.  
1.229.   The Chair drew the Committee's attention to the subject of the dates for the Committee 
meetings  of 2020. He proposed to schedule regular meetings of the Committee on 11 and 12 
February; 19 May and 20 May and 20 and 21 October. T he dedicated session on technical assistance 
would take place on 23 October, back to back with the regular session.  
1.230.   The del egate of Nigeria  had no objections to the dates but hoped that conflict with other 
meetings at the WTO would not take place, especially when considering small delegations.  
1.231.   The Chair  confirmed that efforts would be made to ensure this did not happen in the future 
and further clarified that these were still provisional dates that could be adjusted.  
1.232.   The delegate of Canada  appreciated the forward planning, as it was helpful to have a year's 
worth of provisional dates for meetings. He encouraged the Chair and th e Secretariat to circulate 
those dates to other Committees so coordination could take place in the sense of avoiding conflict 
and also opening the possibility for capital -based officials to come to Geneva and attend several 
meetings.  
1.233.   The Chair  asked Member s if it was agreeable to them to invite representatives of the Annex 
D organizations to participate in the next Committee session, together with a representative from 
the Global Alliance.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  1.234.   It was so agreed .  
1.235.   The Committee took note  of the information and of  the statements made.  
1.236.   The meeting was  adjourned . 
2  DEDICATED SESSION ON  ASSISTANCE AND CAPA CITY BUILDING  
2.1.  The Chair recalled that in accordance with Article  21.4 of the TFA, the Committee should hold 
at least one dedicated session per year. The agenda items for the dedicated session were also listed 
under Article  21.4, and they included (i) exchanges on any implementation problems; (ii) review of 
progress in the provision of assistance and support for capacity building to support the 
implementation of the TFA; (iii) the sharing of experiences and information on ongoing assistance 
and support for capacity building and implementation programs, including challeng es and successes; 
(iv) review of donor notifications as set forth in Article  22 and (v) review of the operation of Article  
21.2 (assistance and support for LDCs).  
2.2.  Considering the cross -cutting elements and to facilitate a free -flowing discussion, the Chair  
proposed to take the first three items under this session as a group.  
2.3.  It was so agreed.  
I.  EXCHANGES ON ANY IMP LEMENTATION PROBLEMS ; REVIEW OF PROGRESS  IN THE 
PROVISION OF ASSISTA NCE AND SUPPORT FOR CAPACITY BUILDING TO  SUPPORT THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF TH E TFA; AND, THE SHAR ING OF EXPERIENCES A ND INFORMATION 
ON ONGOING ASSISTANC E AND SUPPORT FOR CA PACITY BUILDING AND 
IMPLEMENTATION PROGR AMS, INCLUDING CHALL ENGES AND SUCCESSES  
2.4.  The delegate of Guatemala  thanked the Secretariat for this meeting, as it was imp ortant for 
developing countries. Guatemala had already submitted the categorization of commitments 
(G/TFA/N/GTE/1/Add.1) and had also notified the definitive dates for those commitments 
(G/TFA/N/GTE/2). They had received cooperation from the European Union  through a support 
program designed to improve competitiveness and capacity for SMEs and MSMEs. This had allowed 
them to implement Articles  1.2.1(b), 1.3.1, 7.6.3(a), 7.7.3(d) -(g). WCO had also assisted to carry 
out a study which identified the methodology  and responsibilities for the calculation of the average 
release times based on international best practices. Thanks to that study, Guatemala had been able 
to comply with Article  7.6.1 of the TFA.  
2.5.  There had been challenges, which motivated the extension o f implementation dates to 2020 in 
their latest notification. In addition, they had not received technical assistance and capacity building 
offers for some of their provisions designated under category C. It may be the case that further 
extensions might the refore be required. An example was Article  1.1(f), were they had requested 
support for software and computer hardware to implement an information software for some of the 
governmental institutions that took part in that exercise. Thus far, they had no rece ived any pledges 
for assistance. In the case of Article  1.2.1(a), they were waiting for a consultancy regarding the 
development of the various obligations that were necessary for online forms. Articles  7.8.2(c) and 
7.8.2(d) called for technical assistance to acquire experience from countries that had already 
implemented these measures. In addition to this, they had not received offers for the drafting of 
standards. They hoped to hear from other Members who had already implemented systems on 
express shipment s.  
2.6.  Guatemala had category C commitments with looming deadlines. They would not be able to 
comply with these dates as they had not received offers for technical assistance. It was important 
that the Committee discussed how these cases could be dealt with t o devise a better was of 
submitting their requirements. For this meeting, Guatemala had prepared a chart with information 
on cooperation for obligations under category C that had to be complied with within 1 February 2020 
and 1 July 2024. This information was available to anyone who was interested.  
2.7.  The delegate of Mauritius  informed they had been engaged in developing trade facilitation 
measures in line with the strategy to become a hub for the region. Mauritius had been able to commit 
itself to eliminatin g obstacles to trade and investment. Several trade facilitation measures were also G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  being implemented such as the trade portal, paperless customs and online tracking systems, 
amongst other measures that have contributed to competitiveness.  Mauritius had be en one of the 
first countries to have ratified the TFA and notified commitments in July 2014. I had also recently 
notified its definitive dates for implementation of its category B as well as C measures. Up to now, 
Mauritius had obtained assistance from WC O for the publication of average release times and 
informed they were fully compliant with this provision. The WCO had in addition provided technical 
assistance to conduct scoping studies for the setting up of a customs laboratory. The World Bank 
had also assisted in the enhancement of the single window and the delegate thanked the WCO and 
the World Bank for their support. Donors had pledged assistance to WTO Members in implementing 
commitments under the TFA. Despite having sent communications to all of the  donor focal points, 
Mauritius had not been able to secure assistance in addition to that mentioned earlier. They needed 
both technical and financial assistance to implement measures in category C. In the absence of such 
assistance, they would not be able to implement their category C measures within the notified 
deadline. They called on the Committee and pleaded on behalf of concerned Members for donors to 
come forward and extend the required assistance.  
Presentation by CARICOM  
2.8.  The delegate of CARICOM  thanked the WTO Secretariat for inviting the Caribbean Community 
Secretariat to participate in this dedicated session on technical assistance to share their experience 
and the initiatives that were currently underway in the Caribbean Community to support TFA 
implementation. CARICOM was composed by 13 WTO Members and one country currently 
negotiating accession to the WTO, which would be the Bahamas. They were 12 developing island 
and continently economies and one LDC –Haiti, with 11 members having ratified the A greement. 
Several member States, as heard from Jamaica the previous day, were mainstreaming TFA 
implementation into their national development plans and strategic plans. They were taking very 
active steps to implement the agreement. All CARICOM developing country Members had completed 
their implementation notification including definitive dates for category C, and the related TACB 
support needs.  
2.9.  The delegate was struck during the formal session, where several delegations commended the 
tremendous success of this committee in relation to the number of notifications that had been 
received. For CARICOM, the notifications required tremendous effort to meet the deadline, given the 
fact that many countries had not yet made a lot of progress in engaging donors. Seve ral of the 
Members who took the floor the day before had expressed concern about the state of play of 
engaging donors. The fact that they had met the deadline should be taken as a clear signal of their 
commitment to implementing the obligations of the Agre ement.  
2.10.   The next phase of implementation the TFA was crucial for CARICOM, as it was for developing 
and least -developed countries. This would test the efficacy of the TFA, in particular Section II of the 
Agreement which Members had negotiated in good faith. Therefo re, the real success of the 
Committee and of the TFA would be measured not by the extent of notification but by the extent of 
the success in securing assistance to build implementation capacity. They would look forward to 
sincere engagement with donors, an d donor organizations to realize the benefits of the TFA for small 
economies.  
2.11.   CARICOM applauded the efforts of the TFAF in organizing the contact with donor organizations 
and Members this week. They welcomed the lunchtime sessions for completion of the exp ressions 
of interest for grants under the TFAF. As CARICOM, they were encouraging all Members to make 
those initial expressions of interest.  
2.12.   The community was adopting a coordinated regional approach to implement 18 measures of 
the TFA, which were commonly  notified as category C. This was in line with Article  24.5 of the TFA. 
They were leveraging aid to support and catalyze regional integration, in the context of their single 
market and economy, through the adoption of coordinated and harmonized trade facil itation reforms 
across member States. In 2019, they had launched a regional CARICOM committee on trade 
facilitation which would oversee regional coordination. This had been done with support from 
UNCTAD and the WTO TFAF. CARICOM had approved a regional str ategy in 2017, developed with 
support from the World Bank and it contained project outlines for ten priority regional initiatives 
which would oversee implementation of five of these priority measures. Those priority areas were 
transparency; test procedures ; single window; risk management; and post clearance audit. 
CARICOM ministers had agreed that the strategy would be the main tool for coordinating the G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  mobilization of donor resources to support regional implementation including support for national 
impleme ntation. This was for both public and private sector. It was intended to be complimentary 
to national mobilization efforts.  
2.13.   They had been using the strategy to successfully engage donors. The strategy had created a 
common framework on which to design and deliver regional capacity building initiatives and 
interventions for both public and private sector stakeholders. They had successfully used this 
strategy to design capacity building initiatives in collaboration with the TFAF, the Islamic 
Development B ank and coming up soon with the World Customs Organization. The strategy had also 
been a good tool for engaging donors and donor coordination. It sent the political signal to donors 
about political buy -in by member States governments to TF implementation.  
2.14.   CARICOM had organized one donor dialogue to date, with development partners, both regional 
and international in St. Lucia. There was an agreement to have yearly donor coordination meetings. 
The strategy also allowed, thorough regional coordination, to rati onalize the use of scarce donor 
resources, through regional interventions to address common TACB needs. Most member States 
needed to undertake legislative reform, as well as undertake training to build capacity related to risk 
management and other areas. T hey had also been able to rationalize the use of donor intervention 
and donor resources through these regional approaches.  
2.15.   Also, along these lines, they had been able to harness regional expertise to deliver TACB 
support. It substantially reduced reliance on international support and built capacity within the region 
to share national experiences so that countries that were higher up the implementation curve could 
share with countries that were now beginning to implement some of the measures. Going forward, 
that would hopefully promote some public -private partnerships to design and develop regional 
projects.  
2.16.   They had been doing this successfully for now, with the Secretariat to engage some donor 
organizations. Success had been moderate for mobilizing support for ratification, notification, to 
strengthen up NTFC's and for regional capacity building workshops. They appreciated their work with 
the WCO, with whom they had a memorandum of understanding. The World Bank Group had been 
a source of constant partnership , both at the national and regional level. The CARICOM Secretary 
General had indicated to the World Bank Group that all members States had an interest in accessing 
the funds available under the Trade Facilitation Support Program (TFSP). They had developed a very 
good and lasting partnership with UNCTAD, through the negotiation and now through 
implementation. With support from the United Kingdom, UNCTAD was assisting eight of Members to 
build capacity in the context of the national trade facilitation committ ees. 
2.17.   CARICOM had developed some non -traditional partnerships with the Islamic Development 
Bank and we're in dialogue with them through their secretariat to have an MOU. They had worked 
very closely with the TFAF and had regional partnerships like the Carib bean Development Bank. As 
they began to address some of the high cost measures in the strategy, mobilization efforts would 
have to target larger outlays of financial resources that were required to build human and 
institutional capacity needed to modernize  operation systems, update legislation and administrative 
procedures. They would look forward to engaging donors sincerely on these efforts.  
2.18.   The first key message from this presentation was that TFA implementation needs were going 
to change over time. For small vulnerable island and continental economies, one significant weather 
event could significantly alter the physical and institutional infrastructures and realities. By 
extension, this would modify the nature and the extent of capacity building support.  This committee 
would have to be sensitive to these realities in the exercise of its oversight of the Agreement, 
particularly in respect of Article  17 (Early Warning Mechanism) and Article  19 (Shifting Between 
Categories B and C).  
2.19.   The second message was th at identifying and engaging donors required time, and it had to 
be implemented on a dual track; that had been their main challenge. They had approached 
implementing partners that had the expertise, but they did not have the money. In this regard, they 
had to match the money with the competence. It had to be done on two tracks and this added an 
additional layer of difficulty. In addition, there was a problem with aligning funding priorities with 
the schedules of the donors and the schedules of the implementi ng partners. That had been difficult. G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  In some cases, they had been successful in overcoming these challenges by working hand in hand 
with the implementing partners to mobilize funding.  
2.20.   The third headline was that several donor Members were channeling their  TACB support 
through bilateral programs. In some cases, this had constrained regional mobilization efforts 
because the eligibility criteria disqualified some CARICOM members from funding. It went against 
the spirit of Section II of the TFA and limited acc ess to the resources, and it complicated the 
mobilization of efforts for CARICOM's membership in its entirety. There was not an infinite source of 
grant resources available under these existing TF support programs. There were sources available 
through loan s to fund larger projects such as single window, risk management systems. However, 
loans also increased the levels of indebtedness, and this was also against the spirit of Section II. 
This was a matter of concern for CARICOM governments. CARICOM would look  forward to sincere 
engagement with the donors. In the same way that Members applauded the receipt of the 
notifications for category C, they would look forward to applauding the success of implementation 
in future meetings of the TFC. Implementation could only come through partnerships between the 
donors, through sincere engagement with developing and least -developed countries.  
Presentation by Lao People's Democratic Republic  
2.21.   The delegate of Lao PDR  presented their status of implementation of the Trade Faci litation 
Agreement. This had been a focus of their accession process since 2013 and had adopted the 
Agreement upon concluding accession, becoming the first LDC to ratify it. Almost six years after, 
they would have the trade policy review for accession in 2 019. They did not have an agency in 
charge of trade facilitation, but a secretariat had been established in 2010. A five -year plan had 
been adopted in 2011 to simplify clearance procedures across the department. The trade portal had 
been established in 201 2, with all information with respect to imports and exports. They had 
completed accession to the Revised Kyoto Convention in 2016, and this was a notable achievement. 
They had adopted electronic payments of customs duties using smart cards and successfully  
launched the single stop inspection facility in 2016 with Viet Nam, at the Lao Bao crossing. An 
electronic certification for rules of origin (E -COO) had also been launched with help from the EU.  
2.22.   Among other activities undertaken was the piloting of the Na tional Single Window Program 
with the electronic import licenses for vehicles; initiating the authorized economic operators 
program, working under the customs modernization project for fast track clearance; the adoption of 
the instruction on duty and value -added tax incentives for a master list of enterprises, which 
concerned internal regulation; the adoption of a road map to improve trade competitiveness and 
raise global ranking in the Doing Business Index; and the establishment of the national TF 
Committe e. The NTFC was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and vice -chaired by the Minister of 
Industry and Commerce. There were additional instances of this NTFC with offices at the provincial 
level, chaired by the deputy governors of the province.  
2.23.   Using the Wo rld Bank indicators for the 2011 Doing Business Index, it had been determined 
that export took almost 44 days and imports 46 days. In terms of costs, this represented USD 1880 
for exports and USD 2035 for imports. With these results Lao PDR had a score of 168, moving to 
124 in 2018, and 76 in 2019. The country's score on trading across the border remained high, and 
further efforts were needed on compliance. There were several unresolved challenges. Non -tariff 
barriers covered 34% of imports by value, as pro cedures and timelines for various approvals were 
not swift enough due to lack of communication between agencies and uncertainty. This happened 
not only at the central level, but also at the provincial level. There were roadside checks by different 
enforcem ent agencies was also an issue, such as police checks on the routes to ports. E -payment 
does not yet apply to quarantine or other border measures, were multiplicity of payment points was 
still in place. Finally, cooperation with the private sector was stil l absent.  
2.24.   The trade facilitation road map aimed to simplify and streamline clearance procedures and 
improving the service delivery. It also aimed to reduce time to export and import by 50% and cost 
of export and import by 30% and raise the Doing Business I ndex rank from 124 to below 100 —to 
double digits. In addition, they wanted to improve trade competitiveness and attract more foreign 
investments for enhanced economic growth; this was important for the Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce. The roadmap also in cluded an accelerated implementation time frame, with the 
designation of 13 measures in category A, 6 in category B and 17 in category C with indicative dates 
for implementation which would be confirmed next year. However, they would hold an internal 
meeti ng before the end of 2019 to confirm such indicative dates.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
- 31 - 
 
  2.25.   Action plans had also been developed for seeking technical assistance from development 
partners for implementing category C measures. So far, they had been mainly supported by the 
World Bank Group . Previously, they had also received support from the multi -donor trust fund 
supported by Australia, European Union, Germany, Ireland, USAID and the World Bank Group. This 
multi-donor trust fund was dealing with the accession and other trade components. Fo r key category 
C measures, they were working with donors, especially with the World Bank. Cooperation remains 
outstanding for other provisions in this category.  
2.26.   The implementation roadmap 2017 -2022 had been launched with close monitoring from TFS, 
also wit h a directive issued by the Prime  Minister . This was an attempt to improve Lao PDR's ease 
of doing business ranking of the World Bank Group to a double -digit position. For this, the ministry 
was working on the process to start a business and the costs/time  of trading. In addition, they were 
improving collaboration with ASEAN and the GMS framework.  
2.27.   The delegate of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  thanked the opportunity to share their 
experience. Efforts towards TF reform commenced before the coming into for ce of the TFA had been 
formally established by way of a cabinet memorandum in 2011. The NTFC was co -chaired by the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Trade and the Customs and Excise Department. It 
consisted of members from both the private and publ ic sector and it had overseen the 
implementation of the needs assessments as well as customs reforms.  
2.28.   On 9 January 2017, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ratified the TFA and subsequently 
notified all its implementation dates ahead of notification deadline s. Its commitment towards TFA 
implementation was being advanced on two tracks —at the National Level and at the Regional Level 
as previously articulated by the representative from CARICOM. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 
had worked and would continue to wo rk collaboratively with regional and international stakeholders 
in the quest for trade facilitation reform. With funding assistance of the International Trade Centre 
(ITC), a consultant had been employed with a mandate to develop project proposals for the category 
C measures. They were grateful to ITC for their support. Individual project proposals had been 
written for all category C designated measures —a total of 16 —including publication; enquiry points; 
advance rulings; test procedures; risk management; s ingle window; post clearance audit, formalities 
for documentation requirements, and general disciplines on fees and charges. Critically, each project 
proposal had envisaged or identified implementation partners and carefully matched them with 
possible dono rs. A number of those identified donors had since been approached to assist in 
implementing these category C measures. Regrettably, there had been no successful cases to report.  
2.29.   Nevertheless, preparatory work had started in an effort to implement the firs t phase of a 
single window using the ASYCUDA World platform. The first phase was being funded by the 
Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. They had also received assistance from the 
Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) in terms  of building capacity in areas such 
as risk management and post clearance audit. However, there was still need for financial assistance.  
2.30.   On the regional track, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was part of a Regional Strategy for 
the implementation of the T FA in the CARICOM region. This had been developed with input from 
policy makers, technical experts and other government and private sector agencies across the OECS 
member States and the broader Caribbean Community. The regional strategy highlighted regiona l 
approaches and strategies to support the implementation of the TFA provisions, both collectively 
and individually.  
2.31.   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was currently benefitting from UNCTAD's Empowerment 
Program for National Trade Facilitation Committees, f or which they were very thankful to UNCTAD 
and the OECS Geneva Mission. The first module of this ongoing initiative has been conducted in 
November 2018. Under this program, current and potential members of the NTFC were trained with 
the requisite planning skills to implement trade facilitation reforms and to ensure a sustainable 
National Trade Facilitation Committee. As an additional component of these program, they were in 
the final stage towards the adoption of a national trade facilitation road map, refl ecting their vision 
for the next five years with corresponding goals and activities to achieve the desired outcome of 
increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of trade facilitation. The Empowerment Program had also 
played a critical role in helping them  determine the category C definitive dates ahead of the 22 
August deadline, and were currently undertaking module 2 of this program.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  2.32.   In January 2019, the WTO had supported a regional border agency coordination workshop in 
Saint Lucia under the theme: "The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: Supporting Strategic and 
Effective Implementation in CARICOM." It had been organized by the TFAF, the CARICOM 
Secretariat, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission in conjunction with 
other agencies s uch as Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA), Inter 
American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), UNCTAD and the WCO. A critical 
component of this engagement had been the donor dialogue, which had facilitated contact bet ween 
member States and major international organizations and development partners including: the 
World Bank Group; the IMF; World Customs Organization; UK/DFID; the European Union; and the 
Caribbean Development Bank.  
2.33.   Despite best efforts, Saint Vincent and  the Grenadines was faced with a number of challenges 
to fully implement its category C measures. Some of them were being addressed nationally; 
however, some required forging partnerships with development partners. The most significant 
challenge in this re gard was the lack of financial support. While agencies, as previously mentioned, 
had been extremely helpful in providing technical expertise, they did not have the financial resources 
to fund the full implementation of certain initiatives.  
2.34.   The focus should  not be solely on notification but equally, focus should be placed on 
encouraging donor members and development partners to play their part in making available the 
requisite support, as previously disclosed in during the category C notification discussions . Some of 
these challenges were not peculiar only to us but also to OECS and CARICOM countries. The delegate 
concluded by reminding development partners of the spirit of the negotiations of the Agreement and 
the special and differential provisions agreed u pon to offer technical and financial assistance in order 
for developing countries to implement the TFA.  
Presentation by Zambia: Support from Cooperating Partners and Zambia's Achievements 
in the Implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement  
2.35.   The delega te of Zambia  shared their experience with seeking support from cooperating 
partners and the achievements made in implementing TFA provisions. The TFA had been ratified on 
December 2015. The notification of category designations had been submitted in 2016. In that same 
year, the NTFC was established. It was co -chaired by the customs authority and the Ministry of Trade 
and had sub -committees. There was in addition a steering committee, chaired by the secretary to 
the cabinet. All projects which related to tra de facilitation had the steering committee's report to the 
NTFC, to ensure coherence and synergy. Zambia had conducted a preliminary costing of category C 
measures in 2015 and had developed an implementation matrix in 2016. Cooperation partners had 
develop ed their matrix to ensure that where support had been given, there was no duplication of 
efforts. A government donor platform had also been established to discuss measures in addition to 
those being implemented under the Enhanced Integrated Framework, ther e TF issues had been 
included in the agenda.  
2.36.   The idea of coordinating the cooperation partners was to ensure that gaps were identified to 
prevent duplication in efforts; achieve synergy in implementation and ensure that limited resources 
were used effectively. Under the NTFC, Zambia had a partially f unded secretariat for consultants. 
UNCTAD had supported through the Empowerment Program, where members of the NTFC were 
trained on the Agreement and how to do the notifications. So far, the outstanding issues related to 
the establishment of a full -time sec retariat and support to procure the implementation of monitoring 
software.  
2.37.   Under Article  1.2 of the TFA (Information Available Through the Internet), USAID has assisted 
in developing the portal. The issues of sustainability were coming up as additional ne eds for support. 
On Article  1.3 (Enquiry Points), they were working with the World Bank Group to streamline 
operations of the enquiry points but there was work required to ensure that these were effectively 
operational. Test procedures required significant  investments in infrastructure, where they had very 
limited support —the EU had provided support and laboratories, but this had not covered all existing 
needs. Harmonization of payment points had taken place in March 2018, in line with Article  6.1. Four 
agencies had been connected so far (Zambia Compulsory Standards Agency, Zambia Metrology 
Agency, Road Traffic Safety Agency and the Zambezi River Authority), but additional agencies 
remained. Almost all of the commercial banks had good facilities for electron ic payment ( Articles  
7.3), therefore issues remaining concerned sustainability and awareness.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  2.38.   The AEO program had started before the Agreement, and there were 54 registered AEOs at 
the time. However, the system was operated in silos and there was a need to ensure coherence in 
the implementation of the system. There was an Act in place for border agency cooperation ( Article  
8)—the Border Management and Trade Facilitation Act No. 12 of 2019, which established an NTF, a 
one-stop border post, designated the lead agency (Zambia Revenue Authority), harmonized working 
hours, among other issues. They were currently looking at working on regulations and support the 
implementation of the Act. The WCO had provided assistance through the Mercator Program, but 
issues such as electronic certification, stakeholder education on documentation requirements 
remined among issues that required additional support. A single window had been established, but 
it required substantial support, especially connection to the governm ents wide area network and 
there were also sustainability issues.  
2.39.   The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation had been working on Article  10.6 (Use of Customs 
Brokers). They were evaluating modules for training of customs brokers as well as freight forwarde rs. 
The issues of capacity building were also among things that we require additional support. A one -
stop border post had been established, in line with Article  12 of the TFA (Customs Cooperation). 
There were various cooperating partners including the Worl d Bank Group, the African Development 
Bank, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, SADC, JICA, DFID and other bilateral 
partners. So far there were one -stop border posts operating at Chirundu and Nakonde. Future plans 
included Kasumbalesa, Mwam i, Katuma Mulilo, Victoria Falls, as well as Kazungula. In conclusion, 
Zambia was making steady progress towards implementation of trade facilitation measures. The 
delegate also thanked cooperating partners.  
2.40.   The delegate of Bangladesh  thanked the Secretari at and the TFAF team lead by Sheri Rosenow 
for the updates on notification and ratification of the TFA and TFAF activities. He also appreciated 
Members who had shared their best practices. Bangladesh believed that implementation of the TFA 
could reduce tim e, cost, procedural delays in cross border trade and enhance the efficiency of trade 
transaction; since the TFA focused on simplification, standardization, modernization and 
harmonization of import -export procedure and expedites the movement, release and c learance of 
goods including goods in transit, its effective implementation benefits to consumers, traders, 
entrepreneurs and governments. Likewise, the TFA implementation was critical for regional 
integration. Bangladesh considered trade as its engine of g rowth and accordingly, government had 
taken different initiatives for mainstreaming the trade into its economic development plans.  
2.41.   Bangladesh's growth mainly depended on trade, particularly export trade, though its trade 
baskets, as well as trade markets,  were very limited. Bangladesh believed that full implementation 
of TFA measures would expedite achieving its national goals. With this view, Bangladesh had ratified 
the TFA Agreement on 27 September 2016, and had submitted its category notifications withi n due 
time. Bangladesh had also notified its arrangements and progress and needs of technical assistance 
for capacity building support for full implementation of category C measures. Bangladesh had 
identified 13 measures for technical assistance under Cate gory C. Out of these 13 measures, they 
had already received assistance commitment from the development partners for 8 measures, though 
in some cases the commitment had been partial. The delegate thanked development partners 
specifically USAID, ADB and the World Bank Group who had already made commitments to assist 
Bangladesh. He hoped other development partners would come forward to assist Bangladesh so that 
they could fulfil the requirements of TFA.  
2.42.   To get the benefits of the TFA, full implementation was mandatory. In some areas of category 
C measures, Bangladesh had received partial assistance commitments from the development 
partners but needed help for the remaining parts of these measures. For example, assistance was 
required under Article  1.3 to estab lish enquiry points for non -customs issues; under Article  7.4 (Risk 
Management) they required assistance for quality laboratory facilities for the Bangladesh Standards 
and Testing Institute, the Food Safety Authority, the Animal Health Department, the Fish eries 
Department, and the Plant Quarantine Department. Support was also needed for data standard 
management in the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), under Article  
10.4 (Single Window).  
2.43.   Bangladesh requested development partne rs to come forward with their commitments where 
assistance was still lacking. For example, a commitment was needed for the implementation of 
measures under Article  7.9 (Perishable Goods); Article  8 (Border Agency Cooperation) both in -
country and cross -country; Formalities and Documentation Requirements related to perishable 
goods under Article  10.1.1(a); and Freedom of Transit under Articles  11.5, 11.9, 11.16.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  2.44.   It was imperative that the support was not confined to address border level issues, as it also 
needed to focus equally on behind the border issues. Likewise, there should be a balance between 
hardware and software. Bangladesh would look forward to receiving meaningful cooperation from 
the Members as well as the developed partners. Though securing donor  assistance was thought to 
be a major challenge, prompt response from the USAID, ADB and the World Bank Group had been 
helpful in mitigating the implementation challenges for TFA measures. Bangladesh's experience with 
development partners in this respect h ad been very positive. For example, in many measures, such 
donor assistance helped Bangladesh to be able to score as category A (e.g. in advance rulings, 
publication in the internet (through Trade Portal and Customs Portal). Secondly, Bangladesh 
Customs ha d undergone significant reforms since the early 1990s through many donor -funded 
programs. As a result, Customs had been more advanced in implementing TFA measures; other 
government agencies were not at same level. Therefore, implementation of TFA measures would 
remain critical challenges for them. Bangladesh thanked developed members and development 
partners for the support that had been provided so far and would like to encourage them to provide 
additional support in line with TFA to address the need and p riority as an LDC Member.  
2.45.   The delegate of Nigeria  commended the panelists for the insightful presentations, particularly 
that from CARICOM. He underscored the importance of technical assistance and support for capacity 
building, as well as the importance o f ensuring that the guiding principles of Article  21 of the TFA 
were strictly adhered to. There was a joint responsibility between development partners and 
recipient countries to be able to advance the implementation agenda. Since 2017, Nigeria had 
organiz ed a series of technical workshops at the technical level, in particular for NTFC members. The 
workshops had been organized with the objective of building capacities, but more importantly with 
a view to drafting a 3 to 5 -year trade facilitation implementat ion roadmap, as well as key 
performance indicators. The outcoming roadmap was still valid today, and for that they thanked the 
support received from USAID. Nevertheless, it required further review of progress made. According 
to the update provided by the S ecretariat and the TFA Database, Nigeria needed to notify the 
arrangements and progress on the provision of technical assistance and support for capacity 
building; this would be later confirmed. Nigeria had been engaging with donors and development 
partner s with a view to ensuring commitments for project and implementation plan, on the basis of 
their needs' assessment exercise. He concurred with CARICOM in that TFA implementation plans 
were not static, particularly in the areas of digital trade and e -commer ce. Members should reflect 
more on that.  
2.46.   One of the recommendations that came out of the TF monitoring report and gap analysis was 
the need to prioritize completion of the trade portal. This had been mentioned the previous day of 
meetings and it was of th eir interest that UNCTAD was aware of this need. A second point to highlight 
was the support needed for sustainability of TFA implementation, especially in terms of monitoring, 
evaluation and institutional support. Linked to that was the appropriate capaci ty building that would 
allow monitoring and evaluation. The last takeaway from this exercise was that some government 
agencies were not fully automated and not connected to a centralized system. There was also a lack 
of technical knowledge of the inner wor kings of the TFA and inadequate financial capacity to 
implement TF measures. The delegate informed that an additional challenge was the non -passage 
of the Nigerian Customs and Excise Management Act, without which TF reform would be difficult.  
2.47.   Nigeria appre ciated development partners that had shown interest, and recognized they were 
not lacking in attention. However, their intention was to fast -track the process as it was taking more 
than they had anticipated. As mentioned by CARICOM, there was the notificat ion of the various 
commitments, but there was also the agenda for implementation, the timeframe and the capacity 
to implement. In their self -designation process, they had determined that shorter implementation 
periods for category B were beneficial. That t ime had gone by quickly. The Committee also had an 
oversight function and the delegate wondered if another Member could point out any backtracking, 
but they did not have the capacity to comply with some commitments on their own. He shared with 
the Committe e that in their experience, waiting too long was not the best course of action. It was 
important for Members to seriously consider the time element in the notifications.  
2.48.   The delegate of Ghana  commended the panelists for sharing their experiences. He shared  
that identification and engagement with donors took time and posed a substantive challenge when 
not addressed in a timely manner. This could hinder the implementation of TFA commitments. Ghana 
had notified its category C measures and definitive dates, as well as the corresponding technical 
assistance and capacity building needs in compliance with the dates provided in the TFA. They had 
initial engagements and meetings with donors in capital and had followed up with letters and G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  presentations of their needs for assistance and capacity building to indicate priority areas and 
opportunities for collaboration. Unfortunately, the response from the donor partners had not been 
forthcoming. Out of 23 category C measures, only 5 had received either partial or full com mitments 
from the donors to provide assistance. In that regard, the delegate commended the USAID and the 
World Bank Group, as well as UNCTAD, and in particular the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation led 
by GIZ for their support. He concluded by calling  all important partners to provide adequate and 
timely technical assistance support to enable Ghana to fulfil its commitments under the TFA.  
2.49.   The delegate of Paraguay  thanked previous speaker and updated the Committee on progress 
made on TFA implementation.  One of such achievements had been the publication of average release 
times on the trade portal. It considered various regimes and all stages of the process —transport, 
release and delivery, as well as the times for to complete some formalities through the single 
window. They had also progressed on the participation of the private sector in the early publication 
of new standards and rules with future implementation dates. ALADI and Chile had teamed up to 
collaborate with Paraguay on the issue of the trade po rtal, where now it was possible to calculate 
import duties and taxes, as well as the required documentation. They had implemented the 
authorized economic operator program in 2018, with support from the Inter -American Development 
Bank, the Organization agai nst Terrorism, and specialists from the Dominican Republic. It had been 
a positive experience and thanked them for their collaboration. There were other initiatives to fight 
corruption where they had worked with IATA. The customs clearance process had been  completely 
digitalized and now had information regarding the goods that would be inspected. Advances in risk 
management included big data technology. The next challenge was the use of blockchain for transit 
purposes. The delegate thanked the WCO for their  support and the World Bank Group for the input 
to improve risk management and strategic planning.  
2.50.   The representative from Paraguay Customs informed they were at the initial phase of 
implementation of a global trade helpdesk, with funding from the EU, UNCT AD and ITC. ALADI had 
also partnered in this initiative. Other development partners included the US Department of 
Agriculture. They were also part of the program for the empowerment of National Trade Facilitation 
Committees of UNCTAD, which they considered  to be very positive and hoped would continue moving 
forward.  
2.51.   The delegate of Switzerland  enquired about the set -up of the sub -committees in Lao PDR's 
NTFC and the interplay across national and sub -national levels.  
2.52.   The delegate of Nepal  spoke also on beha lf of the LDC Group . She thanked the WTO for the 
funding of capital -based officials to attend the Committee and the multiple side events and 
workshops that had been organized at the sidelines. The experience had been useful, including the 
experience sharin g by Members. In addition, she thanked the Secretariat for the upkeeping of the 
TFA Database. There had been progress on the submission of instruments of ratification, with 146 
Members having notified the Agreement. Similarly, 188 had notified their catego ry A commitments, 
96 for category B and 86 for category C. The notification deadline for category A commitments for 
the LDC Group had been on 22 February 2018. The participation of multilateral stake holders 
including development partners, the discussions and presentations on donor coordination, sessions 
on trade facilitation and SPS, trade and natural disaster nexus, among others, remained significant 
as they helped to understand the various perspectives and the dynamics of Trade Facilitation 
Agreement. Sh e thanked delegations and others who had shared in this regard. The session by 
UNOHRLLS seemed significant, bearing in mind the mid -term review of the Vienna Program of Action 
(VPoA). As the VPoA was halfway along implementation and at the eve of mid -term review, 
comments and feedback to be received from the participants would be highly significant as feedback 
could be used as inputs for the VPoA.  
2.53.   As the focal point on trade Facilitation at the LDC Group, Nepal valued the importance of 
implementation of the  TFA, as it had on impact on reducing delays and costs of cross -border trade. 
Without external support from development partners, it would be very difficult for LDC Members to 
implement the category C commitments. The delegate urged development partners to  notify their 
technical assistance plans under Article  22 of the Agreement in an annual basis, and make sure that 
the support was demand -driven and tailor -made to the specific context of LDCs. He thanked the 
TFAF and Summit Alliance International for havin g accepted their request in organizing the LDC 
Second Retreat in June and preparing the LDC profile on TFA implementation. Finally, he thanked 
developed Members and development partners for the support provided so far and called upon them 
to provide additi onal support in line with TFA to address the needs and priority of the LDC Members.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  2.54.   The delegate of El Salvador  thanked the panelists  for the excellent presentations and the WTO 
Secretariat for the organization of the various seminars and workshops, as well as the regular 
committee meeting and this dedicated session on technical assistance. The national plan on trade 
facilitation had be en approved the previous week and, in addition to setting out the roadmap for 
joint work between the private sector and the public sector, it established a more ambitious objective 
which consisted in the designing of the National Strategy on Trade Facilita tion 2019 -2024. They 
were certain that one of the main players on the implementation of the 60 actions provided for by 
the plan would be the cooperating bodies as well as the countries that provide support through 
capacity building. The Minister of Economy  would be making the necessary contacts to manage 
cooperation required for implementation.  
2.55.   The delegate of Uruguay  reported on the "First Latin American Meeting of the National Trade 
Facilitation Committees: Cooperation between the Agencies Intervening in  the Border", organized 
by the WTO TFAF and the General Secretariat of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI). 
This meeting would take place in Montevideo, Uruguay on 25 -29 November 2019. The main objective 
would be to improve the capacity of t he Trade Facilitation Committees of Latin American countries 
to successfully implement the Agreement on Trade Facilitation. The meeting would emphasize the 
need to improve cooperation between the agencies involved in the border. In order to achieve this 
objective, participants would carry out a series of exercises to share experiences with their peers in 
the region, as well as to discuss best practices related to the establishment of the road map, 
monitoring and evaluation, and in particular the operation o f other NTFCs. The workshop would 
promote an exchange of experiences among the Members of the National Trade Facilitation 
Committees so that areas of mutual learning and possible areas of collaboration could be identified. 
The workshop would provide an opp ortunity to exchange national experiences in cooperation 
between the agencies involved in the border. It would also strengthen the capacity of participants 
for better supervision and better evaluation of national trade facilitation reforms while strengthen ing 
the capacity of participants to formulate the need for technical assistance and draft proposals.  
2.56.   The Plurilateral State of Bolivia  thanked the panelists for their presentations, as well as those 
Members who participated in the experience sharing exerci se. This had enabled them to understand 
and grasp all the different implementation approaches being implemented around the globe. On 22 
September 2019, Bolivia had launched a global program for trade facilitation. This was a joint 
initiative aimed at provi ding technical assistance in Bolivia, in particular for the national customs 
authority, with a view to facilitating through the implementation of national standards and better 
practices for the import, export and transit of goods. The national executive co mmittee for the 
program had been created, and while it did not replace the NTFC, it would be involved in the 
implementation of Article  3 of the agreement. In line with what had been requested by the NTFC, 
Bolivia was working with the World Bank Group on va rious activities.  
2.57.   The delegate of Senegal  thanked the panelists for sharing their experiences, and the 
Secretariat for having enabled them to attend this meeting. She provided a summary of their 
national programs and an overview of the issues they had fac ed in mobilizing technical assistance 
for implementation projects. Since 2015, Senegal had established a national program for technical 
and financial assistance for the implementation of category C measures, with support from the ITC. 
Further to the establ ishment of this program, which included 9 projects, 6 additional projects had 
benefitted from the support of USAID since 2017; this included a portal on information launched in 
June 2018, and the implementation of a program for authorized economic operator s who had 
benefitted from specific training projects on organizational and institutional capacity building. The 
sub-committee had benefitted from a capacity building program on training, communication and the 
implementation of category B and C measures. Se negal had made significant progress; however, 
they were experiencing two constraints on which they drew the attention from financial and technical 
partners. First, the NTFC was not involved had not been involved in all matters concerning trade 
facilitation . In this regard, NTFCs should be acknowledged by all technical partners when conducting 
visits and meetings for projects. The second concerned was the approach of making funds available 
for the implementation of projects. Each partner had its own approach  and sometimes there was no 
follow -up, especially near the end of an assistance project.  
2.58.   Senegal had a financial assistance program in place since 2015, but only certain components 
had been implemented, leaving others behind, when all these components cont ributed to the 
ultimate goal of implementation of category C provisions. The recommendation would be that the 
dialogue with technical and financial partners be improved and that there be a joint assessment of 
the implementation of these projects.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  2.59.   The dele gate of Trinidad and Tobago  echoed the statement by the representative of CARICOM 
and noted that Trinidad and Tobago was committed to the regional coordinated approach for 
implementation of the TFA, which was also being streamlined with the national implem entation. 
Trinidad and Tobago's experience had been with the hemispheric funding organizations, mainly the 
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). The IADB was currently pursuing a project for the 
strengthening of the single electronic window —TTBizLink. In  view of Trinidad and Tobago's 
commitments to implementation of the TFA, they had decided to implement over ten of the category 
C commitments through this mechanism. However, Trinidad and Tobago had been unable to fund 
all the reforms and initiatives neces sary for the implementation of category C commitments. Access 
to donor funding was normally subject to the country meeting specific criteria such as national 
income. While the TFA outlined that developing countries were to be provided with donor support to  
implement its category C commitments, the support was not always easily available for all. In some 
instances, the criteria set out for access to these initiatives limited the options available to countries. 
This limited availability of options had therefo re propelled the pursuance of loan funding. This had 
other impacts on a countries' economy. In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, they were experiencing 
an increase in public -sector debt to GDP ratio, which according to the latest WTO trade policy review, 
rose from approximately 38% in 2012 to 62% in 2017. As such, Trinidad and Tobago would 
appreciate funding that would allow them to meet their obligations under the TFA without the burden 
of debt. The delegate reiterated the need for support to be provided to  all developing countries and 
LDCs for implementation of its category C commitments.  
2.60.   The delegate of Samoa  thanked the presenters for the sharing of experiences. Regarding the 
presentation from CARICOM, he wished to highlight the call for the understanding  of the Committee 
and of donors that implementation support changed over time in Samoa and in the Pacific region, 
as they were vulnerable to many challenges that are out of our control. These challenges had made 
trade facilitation a critical strategic area  of great importance to the country. Their experience showed 
that as national officials had been identifying current projects which were not related to the TFA, 
they had an impact on category C provisions. This observation was made to avoid project overlap ping 
on similar projects by different donors, which could address category C provisions. In this sense, the 
assistance or activities related to the implementation of the TFA had been set up through different 
arrangements and not necessarily because of or i nitiated from the TFA. For instance, Australia and 
New Zealand were funding, under PACER Plus, a trade information portal with the assistance of 
UNCTAD, which could address Article  1.2 (Information Available Through the Interne). This project 
was different  from the TFA and not directly initiated from it. Aside from that observation, it was yet 
too early for Samoa to provide lessons learned or best practices, since the majority of projects were 
still ongoing, nearing completion, or had not yet found donor su pport.  
2.61.   The delegate of Sri Lanka  informed they were experiencing a series of difficulties in 
implementing the Articles , especially category C Articles . The NTFC comprised 16 governmental 
agencies and seven chambers. Sri Lanka Customs was the leading agenc y which performed more 
than 75% of border activities. Other agencies were having serious problems especially infrastructure 
issues, legal expertise and IT capacities. The delegate thanked the European Union, the ITC, the 
World Bank Group, UNCTAD, USAID thr ough their Commercial Law Development Program, Australia 
Aid and GIZ for the support provided so far, as well as the WTO TFAF. Donors had provided important 
initial assistance for conducting workshops and seminars. However, this type of assistance would 
not contribute to the full implementation of provisions in category C, particularly post clearance 
audit, risk management, advanced rulings, etc.  
2.62.   They had received donorship from the World Bank Group to implement the Trade Information 
Portal, which was runni ng successfully. Nevertheless, in order to streamline some additional 
features, especially making it user -friendly, support had been provided by GIZ. Sri Lanka Customs 
had conducted a time release study in 2018 and had released a report in 2019. Donorship had been 
provided under EU funds and had been managed by the ITC. Technical assistance had been provided 
by the WCO, and the delegate thanked them for conducting the TRS and identifying the bottlenecks 
in the Sri Lankan border context.  
2.63.   The delegate of Japan thanked the informative presentations and interventions and introduced 
Japan's approach to assistance and support for capacity building. Every year, Japan provided a 
voluntary contribution to the Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF) which had been established to pursue 
customs cooperation programs provided by the WCO. While Japan continued to contribute to the 
WCO's activities to support the implementation of the TFA under its Mercator program, Japan had 
also been providing bilateral customs cooperation since 1 996. Japan's customs invited trainees and G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  experts with a view to promoting the implementation of the TFA. For instance, in January 2019, they 
had a one -week training program in Japan and invited 10 trainees from overseas to participate in it. 
The program h ad been organized based on a request for Japan to share its experiences and best 
practices regarding the implementation of certain Articles  of the TFA, namely Article  7.1 (Pre -Arrival 
Processing), Article  7.8 (Expedited Shipments) and Article  11.9 on advan ce filing and processing of 
transit documentation and data. In response to that request, Japan had shared their practices for 
utilising advance data and special customs clearance procedures for expedited shipments. The 
training program had included an onsi te visit to the Japan customs offices and a private warehouse 
so that the trainees could understand actual operations of customs procedures in Japan. Throughout 
the course of the training sessions many questions had been asked and answered and by making 
comparisons with their own systems, the trainees had been able to identify issues to address upon 
their return home.  
2.64.   The delegate of the Dominican Republic  thanked previous speakers. The Dominican Republic 
was highly committed to TFA implementation —more than 70% of measures had been notified in 
category A, and categories B and C had been notified before the timeframe set out in the TFA. They 
thanked countrie s and association from whom they had received technical assistance, since before 
the TFA was a reality. Donors decided that type of specific assistance was made available and which 
was specifically provided. While the Dominican Republic remined open to rec eive donations, 
counselling, advisory work and diagnosis. However, they had not received responses concerning the 
actual implementation of programs where they already had diagnostics and plans. For example, in 
the case of single window and risk management,  several recommendations and analysis had been 
made by various donors and international organizations. These studies had identified the needs, but 
they wished to focus more on specific assistance to procure the necessary information systems, 
computers, tra ining, x -ray examination units and training. It was important then that developing 
countries could have access to technical and financial assistance that tailored to their own needs.  
2.65.   The delegate of Côte d'Ivoire  thanked the Secretariat for making it possi ble for them to attend 
this meeting. He congratulated previous speakers and noted that there were several interesting 
cases which showed the substantial progress that had been made in the implementation of the 
provisions of the agreement. While they had ma de progress concerning the single window, they 
needed additional support for some outstanding components, for example electronic payment and 
risk. They had received support from USAID and the World Bank Group for the establishment of the 
trade portal, whic h was not complete yet. They hoped that the result could be similar to the example 
provided by Jamaica. Concerning Article  11 (Freedom of Transit), a survey had been carried out to 
determine how to improve and heighten the monitoring of cargo, working with  USAID. Nevertheless, 
the system was not yet in place. They indicated to need more support in this area. They also had 
support from USAID in launching the pilot phase of the AEO program. The official launching was still 
pending, as they had yet to assess i f all the criteria had been complied with and to how many 
operators it could apply to. Under Articles  6.1 and 6.2, Cote d'Ivoire had also received backing from 
USAID for mapping royalties. They were looking for additional support to publish these results. The 
delegate concluded by thanking all partners that had provided support for implementation.  
2.66.   The delegate of Peru thanked the WTO, Members and that various development partners that 
had provided substantial information. Peru had obtained bilateral support  by the Swiss Cooperation 
within their competition for five different measures —risk management, competition at the border, 
AEO, notification of reinforced inspections. This had concerned the implementation of category C 
measures; however, they saw a need t o improve the measures in category A.  
2.67.   The delegate of Honduras  thanked panelists for their presentations and the Secretariat for 
allowing Honduras to participate in this meeting. The NTFC had been set up in January 2018, with 
participation of the public and private sector. She thanked USAID for the support provided a nd the 
various organizations that had been a part of this process.  
2.68.   The delegate of Lao PDR  answered the question from the Swiss delegation. As he had 
explained, there had been a TF secretariat before there was an NTFC. The deputy Prime Minister 
was the cha ir, with the Minister of Industry and Commerce as deputy chair. This was working at the 
central level. Provincial sub -committees had been established under the same model, chaired by the 
deputy of government from the province and vice -chaired by head of th e provincial department. The 
focal point remained the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and their instances ad the provincial 
level.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  2.69.   The delegate of Nepal  highlighted issues that were important for Nepal as a land -locked 
country. Their studies showed tha t not having coasts increased the cost of trading by 20%. The TFA 
was more important for landlocked LDCs. Nepal was increasing its links and connections, through 
transit facilities through its southern, northern and eastern borders. However, the trade cost  of Nepal 
was still high in comparison to other landlocked countries. The logistic performance index (LPI) of 
Nepal was not that encouraging in the study by World Bank Group despite improvement in the Doing 
Business Index. Nepal required support to improve  the implementation of transit obligations under 
Article  11. 
2.70.   The Committee took note  of the statements made under Sections I, II and III of the Dedicated 
Session.  
II. REVIEW OF DONOR NOTIFICATIONS AS SET  FORTH IN ARTICLE  22 OF THE TFA  
2.71.   The delegate of the European Union  informed several EU member States would be taking the 
floors to share their experience on aid provided to the developing countries and LDCs for the 
implementation of the TFA. She thanked Members for the presentations made and took note of th e 
lessons learned to report back to capital. It had been recalled that NTFCs were crucial and she 
highlighted that the EU assistance program supported the establishment of NTFCs and provided 
capacity building in that regard. In light of the many statements  that referred to assistance provided 
by the WCO, the EU invited them to comment on their experience and approach in assisting countries 
on TFA implementation.  
2.72.   The representative of the World Customs Organization  thanked the Membership for this 
invitation.  The WCO had launched the Mercator program in 2014 as a program aimed at assisting 
Members in implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement, but also implementing TFA measures 
more broadly. Five years after its launch in March 2019, a report had been publi shed on the 
implementation of the program to take stock of the results achieved. The report was publicly 
available on the WCO website. The program was possible due to the donors that were providing 
support. With the aim of achieving the necessary coordinat ion of activities, they were also working 
very closely with the different development partners, including the TFAF.  
2.73.   The tailor -made track of the Mercator program was specially designed to meet specific needs 
of the individual Members or sub -regions. There  were currently over 40 Members benefitting from 
the so -called Mercator program under the tailor -made track which was based on medium to long -
term engagement with Members and adopted a project -based approach. It also included a significant 
role for WCO acc redited experts, in particular Mercator program advisors (MPA). There were 
currently almost 100 MPAs. Depending on the availability of funding, Members benefitted from both 
the core Mercator program support, which included scoping and implementation planni ng, as well as 
support on specific technical and organizational development recommendations raised in the 
Mercator program scoping mission report.  
2.74.   The Mercator scoping missions were a combination of tools to access the implementation of 
TFA Articles  depend ing on TF notifications, previous diagnostics and other national circumstances. 
Up to 41 measures were analysed together with associated organizational enabling and institutional 
arrangements. Complex TFA Articles  such as risk management, post -clearance au dit, measurement 
of release times and authorized operators were sustained in a holistic engagement needed for 
effective implementation. Multi -year implementation support also enabled complimentary 
organizational development support, encompassing matters of  leadership management training, e -
learning and competency based human resource management.  
2.75.   In terms of specific recommendations for the Mercator program scoping missions, 
approximately 60% concern implementation of technical trade facilitation procedures.  The remaining 
40% of recommendations related to organizational development, institutional arrangement, 
technology and enforcement related management issues. Following a scoping diagnostic report, the 
WCO and the concerned Member administration discussed t he recommendations. Once clarified and 
confirmed, the next activity was implementation planning or updating an existing reform and 
modernization plan. In addition to this long and medium -term support, the WCO also provided short 
term support to address spe cific needs of the Members, for example, in the areas of authorized 
economic operators, time release study, risk management, transit, the WCO data model etc. This 
support was based on over 50 WCO instruments and tools which had been produced by the WCO G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  and its membership through the comprehensive WCO committee structure. For more information on 
this program, Members could refer to the Mercator program report and more information on their 
website.  
2.76.   The delegate of the European Union  commented on previous sta tements to introduce EU aid 
programs. She noted that Lao PDR expressed its needs for category C commitments. The ASEAN 
Regional Integration Support by the EU, called ARISE+, had been launched last 10 September and 
this was available to Lao PDR to meet thei r specific requests. She encouraged the delegation of Lao 
PDR to contact the EU delegation in the country. They had contacted the Ministry in Zambia about 
available funds, and the ongoing trade facilitation regional program that would be implemented 
throug h COMESA, which also contributed to the implementation of the category C commitments of 
Zambia. The programs were called "Result to Enhanced Implementation", and it had a budget of 
about EUR 2 million, to finance activities such as the identification of ga p and needs of the Member 
in the context of the WTO TFA, and it could provide capacity building on implementation, depending 
on the country's specific needs. She encouraged the delegation of Zambia to contact the EU 
delegation in the country. The EU had ta ken note of the needs expressed by Bangladesh. There 
would be a bilateral meeting of the trade committee with Bangladesh and the EU on 20 October, and 
this would be addressed as well.  
2.77.   There were two basic elements of EU assistance in the area of trade faci litation. From the 
entry into force of the Agreement, the EU and its member States had committed to mobilize at least 
EUR 400 million in trade facilitation assistance over a five -year period, including for projects 
improving developing countries' customs s ystems. Specifically, EU Aid for Trade prioritized Trade 
Facilitation Agreement provisions notified as category C. The EU's Aid for Trade (AfT) Strategy had 
been adopted in October 2007 in response to the WTO -led AfT Initiative to help developing countries  
better integrate into the international trading system and take greater advantage of poverty -
reducing benefits of economic openness and enhanced trade efficiency. In context of the 2030 
Agenda, the EU AfT Strategy had been subsequently updated in 2017. Th e strategy's objectives —
the reduction of poverty and the integration of developing countries into world trade —remained 
unchanged. However, in the advancement of new instruments, such as the European External 
Investment Plan (EIP), the vision for EU AfT had  evolved to deliver the high volume of EU AfT in an 
effective and impactful way, to seek complementarity between EU trade and development policies 
and to increase its effectiveness in the LDCs as priority.  
2.78.   EU AfT encompassed a third of EU projects and prog rams supporting trade and productive 
capacities in developing countries. EU AfT operated within the partner countries and regions' trade 
and economic policies as mainstreamed into their development strategies. It played a vital role in 
building the capacit y of developing countries to negotiate and implement such agreements. The EU 
also worked with key actors in partner countries, across many areas and types of aid, from 
strengthening the capacity of local government and private sector, to the facilitation o f customs 
procedures and compliance with safety, technical and quality standards. EU AfT maintained a high 
degree of flexibility in order to incorporate the development cooperation implications of WTO topics 
relating to both existing negotiations and commi tments. Multilateral and bilateral trade agreements 
which partner countries adhered to, including the TFA, Free Trade Agreements and Economic 
Partnership Agreements, were strong drivers for reform that EU AfT supported and built on to scale 
up the developm ent impact. In Africa specifically, implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area 
(AfCFTA) would be one of such drivers.  
2.79.   During the 7th Global Aid for Trade Review at the WTO in July of this year, the EU had launched 
its EU Aid for Trade Progress Repor t. The report reflected the prioritization of a stronger coherence 
between EU and member State's development priorities and trade and investment instruments, with 
a view to improve the economic, job creation and sustainability impacts. The report itself wa s based 
on both qualitative data extracted from the OECD Development Assistance Committee Credit 
Reporting System, as well as qualitative information conveyed by EU Delegations, including 
information on projects from member States in developing countries. The report included information 
on AfT related to trade facilitation. More than half of the countries where EU delegations were 
surveyed had or intended to request assistance to implement provisions of the TFA. The EU was 
ready to respond to this, includin g supporting the establishment and effective cooperation of the 
National Committees for Trade Facilitation.  
2.80.   As EU AfT actions continued to expand and deepen, the establishment of an active NCTF in 
developing countries was indeed pivotal to these actions. N CTFs were composed of a dynamic G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  working group of implementing agencies (e.g. Customs, Port Authorities), public institutions (e.g. 
Ministry of Transport) and the Private Sector (e.g. importers and exporters, carries and shipping 
associations). In 2018, the  EU had provided a full and clear overview to the WTO of current projects 
in the Aid for Trade Facilitation spectrum and could provide key and concise updates for 2019. The 
EU and its member States were among the main donors regarding trade facilitation, w ith 
commitments reaching EUR 154 million in 2017. We have clear examples of EU -funded regional and 
country programs that are actively contributing towards trade facilitation efforts in partner countries. 
Examples of EU Aid for Trade Programs in the area of  Trade Facilitation included: first, the West 
Africa Trade Facilitation Program, jointly commissioned by the EU (EUR 20 million), the World Bank 
Group and GIZ, commenced in September 2018 which was improving and effectively implementing 
trade facilitation measures at the regional and national levels, encouraging a more efficient 
movement of goods along selected corridors and reducing barriers for small -scale traders, with an 
emphasis on improving conditions for female traders in particular. Second, the COME SA Program on 
Small -Scale Cross -Border Trading (EUR 15 million) was increasing the formalization of informal 
cross-border trade and enhancing small -scale cross -border trade flows in the COMESA/tripartite 
region, leading to increased fiscal revenues for gov ernments as well as to increased security and 
higher incomes for small -scale cross -border traders. Third, the INTEC ( Integración Económica 
Regional Centroamericana ) Program (EUR 20.5 million) was a flagship program for trade facilitation 
in Central America  with the specific objective of reducing the regional constraints to competitiveness 
and diversification in this region, by supporting trade facilitation and increasing capacity to trade in 
goods and services. In addition, the Support to Investment, Compet itiveness and Trade in Central 
Asia Program (EUR 31.2 million), focused on five countries (i.e. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Mongolia), would promote international trade in Central Asia, as 
Kazakhstan, for instance, foc used on transforming its growth model away from reliance on natural 
resource extraction. Along with policy makers, ministries, private sector representative, and larger 
companies expected to benefit from trade facilitation reforms, the program would map tr ade 
regulations and procedures and publish them through online National Trade Facilitation Platforms, 
in compliance with the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. Furthermore, the Program would provide 
capacity building for women's associations to increase ski lls and confidence to advocate for their 
rights as traders and participate in the work of trade institutions, including NCTF.  
2.81.   At the country level, the EU Trade -Related Technical Assistance (TRTA) Program (EUR 4.55 
million) had allowed Afghanistan to advan ce swiftly in implementing the WTO TFA. Specifically, the 
EU had supported the Afghan government to categorize TFA commitments —including category C —
and supported the Afghan NTFC through increased private sector involvement, technical training and 
the promo tion of inter -agency collaboration. Furthermore, within the AfT portfolio, the EU supported 
the establishment and effective operation of the NCTFs. For example, EU funding in Cameroon had 
contributed to training officials of the Ministry of Commerce to fin alize a road map of its NTFC, 
operational since 2016. This road map would define the measures and priorities of TFA 
implementation, including the allocation of measures under category and C notifications. In Haiti, 
the Ministry of Trade had organized two m eetings with other concerned ministries, the private sector 
and the EU to prepare a process to finalize the needs assessment of the category C commitments 
and subsequently establish the country's own NTFC. Furthermore, in Sri Lanka, the EU Trade 
Developmen t Project supported the Government's Trade Information Portal. The Portal streamlined 
documentation necessary for import and export and provided regulatory information to traders. 
Hosted by the Department of Commerce with the NTFC, the Portal helped to imp rove predictability 
and transparency of Sri Lanka's business environment by providing the domestic and foreign 
business communities and investors with timely access to trade rules and regulations.  
2.82.   Regarding EU programs that are about to be launched, the program SEED+ on systematic 
exchange of electronic data was a 4 -year project with an implementing period between October 
2019 to December 2022, and an allocated amount of EUR 5.3 million that benefited the WB6 
countries and Moldova and was im plemented by CEFTA. The project aimed at securing the needed 
maintenance to the current SEED whilst developing new elements to enhance progressive 
harmonization and transparency of procedures among involved beneficiaries. In turn, this enabled 
electronic e xchange of trade documents in WB in line with the provisions and actions agreed upon 
in AP5  
2.83.   Regarding the EU Tunisia cooperation, the EU was implementing a EUR 90 million budget 
support program in support of competitiveness and exports which covered the fo llowing aspects: 
digitalization of a number of trade procedures ("titre du commerce extérieur", "visa 
d'embarquement" and "avis d'arrivée des marchandises" ); publication of a trade procedures guide G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  to ensure transparency of procedures and facilitate cross -border operations (relates to Article  10.1. 
in the notification table); improving the performance of the Sectoral Technical Centres (responsible 
for testing imported and exported products - relates to Article  5.3. in the notification table); 
reduction of t he number of imported and exported products subjected to technical controls (related 
to Article  7.5. in the notification table); increased productivity of the Radès Harbor operations, which 
channeled 80% of trade by sea; and an increase in the number of AE Os (related to Article  7.7. in 
the notification table). Finally, upon request by the Tunisian authorities, the EU had organized 
several targeted events and activities in Tunisia using the Technical Assistance and Information 
Exchange instrument (TAIEX). TA IEX programs were largely needs -driven and deliver appropriate 
tailor-made expertise to address issues at short notice through workshops, expert missions, and/or 
study visits. The EU had such programs in the area of customs with the Western Balkans and oth er 
countries and would consider additional support that could target trade facilitation activities if the 
Tunisian authorities expressed a clear, and structured need for such activities to support the 
implementation of Tunisia TFA commitments.  
2.84.   The delegat e then passed the floor to several member States that presented their own 
experience of TF implementation of their aid programs.  
2.85.   The delegate of Sweden  recognized the role of enhancing development and poverty reduction. 
Their support to enhance trade among  LDCs and contributions to the removal of impediments for 
trade constituted an integral part of Swedish development assistance. There were different 
modalities in which the Swedish Aid was channeled. At the global level, the Swedish assistance was 
channele d through several multinational agencies such as the World Bank Group, WTO, among 
others who were supporting the EIF facility and the STDF facility, and with the World Bank Group 
support as a multi -donor trust fund on trade. Sweden was also an important su pporter of the WCO. 
At the regional level, Sweden had supported the WCO in implementing part of the TFA Agreement, 
through projects regarding customs modernization. Sweden was also supporting an African 
organization which dealt with trade policy training a nd provided training in the area of trade policy 
and law. Additional support at the regional level in Africa was provided in collaboration with the 
Trade Law Centre which provided training and capacity building. Support to the trade sector was 
becoming int egrated in their bilateral programs. The delegate encouraged countries where Sweden 
had bilateral offices to contact them to explore possibilities of further cooperation.  
2.86.   The delegate of Spain  indicated there where two important factors to look at, both fr om the 
point of view of the host country and the expert country. For the host country, it was important that 
all authorities had political will and that all civil servants were engaged from day one. The experts, 
on the other hand, had to be clear on their knowledge of the issue at hand and ensuring that the 
national officials trusted their capacities. Spain had been working with Guatemala, through 
accredited experts. This process had involved a week of hard work. The first part involved a desk -
based approac h, which was done from experts' offices to analyze the countries in terms of their 
qualities, capacities, and the issues. Once that was done, they set up a schedule of 5 -8 days of 
meetings.  
2.87.   One of the issues they had encountered in implementing Article  1 was hardware. Additionally, 
in some cases, the legislation conflicted with the TFA obligations. It was important that before there 
was an IT service to comply with this obligation, there was a centralized physical contact point for 
all this information. In Article  3 (Advance Rulings), their support was related to adding value by 
looking at complex classification questions, when there are exemptions, taxes and others. In Article  
5, they have faced difficulties with second tests, because it varies significantl y across countries. 
Inter-agency communication has also been a challenge. Set dates and periodical analysis have been 
an issue in implementing Article  6, and lack of knowledge about the responsible authority. Quite 
serious problems had arose concerning the  implementation of single window as it was something 
new and there were different approaches. Simplified declarations were also an issue. In the EU, if 
the documents or information were incomplete, there were still ways to release goods. This was not 
the c ase in many countries, and this showed the need for a system in a prudent time. Urgent 
deliveries, such as e -commerce, who are using courier routes, often tried to avoid paying tariffs and 
there was a need for a global approach to this. Difficulties in Article 8 related to the different agencies 
that were involved. There was a need for cooperation on this point, where all agencies were involved 
in the process. The transit coordinator of Article  11 was a success story, where they had encountered 
positive ope ration in countries where it had been implemented.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  2.88.   Their experience also showed that internal cooperation was the area were more work was 
needed. It was the case that either the existing laws or regulations were too stringent, or they were 
completely inexi stent. It was important to look at the WCO SAFE framework, cooperation through 
private companies, customs authorities and other participating agencies. Also, experts faced the 
challenge of being trusted to handle these types of situations. In the case of p erishable goods, often 
customs authorities did not have proper storage facilities and they were provided by private 
companies. In the delegate's point of view, the NTFC should be headed by customs authorities, since 
they were the agency who had the most ex perience in TF topics. If they were not leading the 
committee, it was important that they were at least at the forefront. The low levels of participation 
from the private sector and the discrimination they had seen be provided to different companies was 
an aspect to further consider.  
2.89.   The delegate of the Netherlands  said the Netherlands favored and open, rules -based global 
trade and investment system. Open trade increased renovation, efficiency and competitiveness. 
Trade and investment were engines for econo mic growth and the creation of jobs. They should also 
be fair and sustainable. The Netherlands promoted mutual benefits for trade partners and 
themselves. They were strong supporters of trade facilitation and among the main supporters of AfT 
with programs that achieved results on the ground. They worked together with partners such as the 
WTO, the ITC, TMEA, the World Bank Group. An emphasis was placed on women's participation in 
international and regional trade. Improving women's economic opportunities and removing barriers 
through their participation in regional and international trade were essential for pursuing economic 
development and achieving fairer and beneficial outcomes for all. These were among the guiding 
principles of the Dutch policy of foreign trade and development cooperation.  
2.90.   Many female traders were at a disadvantage because of poor literacy and limited knowledge 
of cross -border regulations and procedures. Access to education, knowledge and skills were critical 
elements. Women traders had lim ited access to services, including financial services that enabled 
them to grow their businesses. They needed to be protected against sexual harassment and violence. 
They sought to strengthen the position of women in trade via, for example, the center for the 
promotion of imports to the EU, the ITC, TMEA and the Trade Facilitation West Africa (TFWA) 
program. This las program focused on women together with ECOWAS, UEMOA, World Bank Group, 
the European Commission, USAID, GIZ, and others. The Netherlands had f inanced the program that 
targeted small -scale women traders at border markets, and on major trade corridors in several 
ECOWAS member States as well as efforts to make policies and regulatory frameworks more 
responsive. Recognizing the important role of wom en in trade, the Trade Facilitation West Africa 
program would design measures to address specific gender -related constraints, including women's 
lack of knowledge in legal and regulatory frameworks that governed trade relations or women's lack 
of mobility —to be able to comply for example with the need to send documents to capital cities 
rather than introducing simplified procedures for small skills traders.  
2.91.   The program was also expected to address specific issues at border markets, for example the 
lack of toilet facilities and security. When women traders relied heavily on revenues from trade for 
their livelihoods, they experienced sexual harassment. Women ne eded to have access to legal and 
advisory services. Perpetuating abuse should be brought to justice. As the program had just started, 
there were no results to show yet, however the TFWA program generated assessments, small -scale 
trader surveys and politica l economy analysis that would help to define a gender strategy across 
three main result areas. The first was more efficient implementation of the ECOWAS trade 
liberalization scheme and common external tariff, and the WTO TFA. The second was to improve the 
efficiency of the movement of goods among six major trade corridors. Third was lobbying advocacy 
and specific measures to improve conditions for small scale traders and women in particular. They 
were also in the progress of commissioning an independent pol itical analysis to monitor the impact 
of the TFWA program and other trade -related initiatives in West Africa on different groups of 
stakeholders. This political economic analysis was expected to guide positions making progress.  
2.92.   The delegate of Finland  stated they were also an important contributor in TF initiatives. In 
addition to their contribution to the TFAF, Finland was funding several regional and multilateral trade 
development projects. Their support was mainly channeled through multilateral agencies that had 
the required expertise to deliver technical assistance in TFA. A recent three -year project had taken 
place in collaboration with the WCO titled 'To progress the Trade Facilitation agenda within the 
framework of the WCO Mercator Programme in the Ea st and Southern Africa (ESA) Region, 2016 – 
2019'. The project aimed at increasing African trade as well as trade between Africa and the rest of 
the world by supporting customs reform and modernising the beneficiary countries in Eastern and G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  Southern Africa . This aim was to help beneficiary countries to implement the TFA. The project had 
contributed to facilitating trade and improving procedures of ESA, customs administrations by 
introducing modern technologies using tools and instruments developed by the WC O. The project 
also sought to build sustainable regional training capacity for regional training centers. As another 
example, Finland also supported economic integration and enhanced trade by funding the TMEA, 
through a project in 2017 -2020 totals EUR 9.8 million.  
2.93.   The delegate of the United Kingdom  indicated Aid for Trade was a central pillar of the UK's 
approach to economic development. Their objective was to support developing countries to play an 
active role in the global trading system and to use trade as an instrument for growth, job creation 
and poverty alleviation. A key part of Aid for Trade support was dedicated to trade facilitation 
projects which helped developing countries to introduce reforms relevant to the implementation of 
the TFA. As well as  bilateral and regional programmes, such as TMEA, which began its life as a DFID 
project, the UK had funded a capacity building programme to support the implementation of the TFA 
through the WCO Mercator programme and the UNCTAD empowerment programme for N TFCs. A 
recent positive example of the empowerment program had taken place in Namibia, where capacity 
building or NTFC had resulted in a trade facilitation roadmap for implementing TFA measures. During 
the workshop, the NTFC of Namibia had been formally la unched with a mandate to lead their trade 
facilitation efforts. The UK had also provided funding for the support for the implementation of the 
TFA. The aim of the program was to help produce trade costs and waiting times at the border, and 
in the long term  to contribute to inclusive growth. The programme had been working with four main 
implementing partners —the World Bank Trade Facilitation Support programme, the Global Alliance 
for trade Facilitation, the WTO TFAF and the SDTF. A good example of positive i mpacts on the road 
through this programme had taken place in Viet Nam, where the trade facilitation support program 
had helped launch the Viet Nam trade information portal. This portal enabled access to all cross -
border trade regulation information in one place. Making the Viet Nam's regulatory requirements for 
import and export available to the private sector in an easily accessible transparent and searchable 
format was the key step to the simpler, faster and lower -cost business environment. The UK was 
committed to working with partners around the world to build on good progress that had already 
been made and to target the specific needs of the developing countries for trade facilitation.  
2.94.   The delegate of Nigeria  commended the WCO Mercator program, which ens ured results 
management and performance measures in terms of TFA delivery. He requested that the 
presentation be made available and enquired if WCO representatives were able to report on activities 
to the NTFCs. They had a representative of the WCO come in  the past and present to their NTFC, 
and it would be beneficial to receive reports from activities in Geneva and Brussels. In addition, it 
was also important that while customs had a prominent role in implementation, other agencies were 
also involved. He t hanked the various presentations from the EU and its member States. Awareness 
of the projects was very low, to the extent that benefits were less significant. Therefore, it would be 
beneficial to ensure that awareness level was high, with benefits accruabl e from those interventions. 
It was also important to involve stakeholders and recipients of aid in the development of projects, 
to ensure alliance with national priority. They would look forward to hearing more positive 
experiences. In this regard, he reca lled that one of the presentations stated that benefits could not 
be measured yet and enquired how much time it would be required to do so.  
2.95.   The delegate of Canada  was particularly struck by the presentation from Jamaica, as an 
example of positive experienc es. This particular case could be interesting to other committees such 
as agriculture, TBT, SPS and Customs Valuation. He encouraged Jamaica and other presenters, as 
well as the Secretariat and the Chairs of the various Committees to raise awareness of the se cases 
to disseminate information. He concluded by requesting to invite the Global Alliance for Trade 
Facilitation to the next meeting.  
2.96.   It was so agreed . 
2.97.   The Committee took note  of the statements made.  
III. REVIEW OF THE O PERATION OF ARTICLE  21:2 (ASSISTANCE AN D SUPPORT FOR 
LDCS)  
2.98.   There were no comments made under this agenda item.  G/TFA/M/9  
 
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  2.99.   The dedicated session was adjourned . 
__________